


Undertaking

by orphan_account



Series: Road to Recovery [1]
Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Aoba Saved Everyone With Scrap, Asexual Characters, Bad Ending Aftermath, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Except For Koujaku, Freeform, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Other, Post-Canon Fix-It, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 10:08:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 50,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: This new world that Toue had created was boring – everyone was in a daze, doing whatever that man told them to, but for now it was all restricted to Midorijima. Shiroba has taken walks around the city and the Old Residential District more than once, and seeing the people that Aoba used to know now looking like mindless zombies walking the streets was somewhat amusing. He could still feel the other Aoba inside of him, clawing, screaming, biting, kicking, crying, trying to get out and help his friends, but he would never achieve that.'You kicked me down when all I did was protect you. Now it's your turn to suffer,' he snapped back when he felt the familiar tingle again.





	1. Prologue

  
  
_**Platinum Jail**_  
 ** _Oval Tower_**  
 ** _7 Months After Scrap Fail_**  
  
  
"It's been awhile," Shiroba sighed as he walked into Toue's office, not even bothering to look around and take in his surroundings. He knew this place too well already. "I assume this is about work?" What else could it be, anyways?

 

"Of course," Toue said, hands clasped behind his back, his lips set in a smile. "Your targets are in the same room as always," he said, stepping aside and waving one hand in the direction of the door in question. "Do what you must."

 

"With pleasure," Shiroba said, not even paying attention to the way Toue slightly bowed his head while the former walked past him to enter the next room.

 

In it stood two people, a woman and a man, both dressed in business suits. Shiroba didn't know who they were, but he didn't even care. Toue has been inviting all sorts of minor politicians from the Mainland, and so far there has been little progress seen in using them as puppets to advance his plan, yet he still kept doing it. _It's the little things_ , he had said once, laughing out loud, even though Shiroba could see that he was hiding more underneath that nonchalant gesture. _Oh, but what do I care? I just want to destroy._ Shiroba smirked at the newcomers as they set their gazes on him and instantly grew uncomfortable.

 

"Um...," the woman began, looking very much nervous as she spoke, yet her voice managed to remain normal. "Where is Mr. Toue?"

 

"I was not aware he had circus freaks in this tower," the man joked, but the woman shot him a glare as a silent warning to shut his mouth.

 

But Shiroba didn't care. He chuckled at them and shook his head, after which he started approaching them slowly. One foot behind the other, slow and relaxed, making the politicians more and more nervous with each step Shiroba took. _Aw, how pitiful._ The woman gripped the handles of her chair and looked like she wanted to run out of the room, while the man's smile slowly faded from his face when he realized that the air in the room had changed. He looked scared. As he should be. Shiroba finally stopped in front of him and extended a hand towards him, one finger pressing against the other man's forehead. Shiroba's eyes shone gold, and his voice changed.

 

"Sink."

 

The politician's body instantly went limp and he collapsed from his chair, falling face-first on to the ground, eyes wide open and staring out into nothingness. A warm, fuzzy feeling bubbled up inside Shiroba's chest, and his shoulders shook with a silent laugh as he watched one of his many victims fall before his feet, his mind gone. Maybe not completely, but Shiroba couldn't perform Scrap on both of them at the same time, so it was better to have the man go through whatever Toue decided was the next best thing, while Shiroba dealt with the woman.

 

"What... What are you?" She asked, voice shaky, as she scrambled up to her feet and tried putting as much distance as she could between herself and Shiroba. "Stay the fuck away from me!" she yelled at him, but Shiroba only smiled, letting out a breath.

 

"Come here now," Shiroba cooed, walking towards the woman, slowly cornering her against the nearest wall. She was sweating, breathing frantically and shaking with fear. Good. "Let me go inside your mind," he said, reaching out to the woman's face and gently cupping it with one hand.

 

That all-too-familiar feeling of lightheadedness washed over him and he breathed out again, tilting his head back as he closed his eyes and let the darkness consume him. It was a fairly easy task, really, getting to the most intimate parts of this lady's brain and pulling out all its secrets, quickly tearing down everything that made her who she was - her love for her two kids, her love for books, her talent for singing, all those little things that were meaningless in the long run. He wanted her completely broken and completely at Toue's mercy, and that's what he got. When Shiroba woke up and saw the result, he smiled. The politician was now laid face-down on the polished white floor, drool coming out of her mouth, her eyes wide open and staring into a fixed spot on the wall across the room. _This was... exciting._ A light chuckle bubbled in Shiroba's chest, shaking his shoulders, and it soon became a loud laugh, throwing his head back and running a hand down his own chest as the desire to _destroy everything, everyone, destroy it all_ , filled his entire being. He didn't notice when people walked into the room to pick the unconscious bodies up and carry them out, or how they made sure to give Shiroba a wide berth as much as they could, nor did he remember that Toue was still outside waiting for him. Shiroba didn't care. As soon as his laughter died down a single name filled his mind, his heart, his entire being, and it made Shiroba sigh happily. _  
_

"I want to see him...," he murmured, slowly getting up, that dazed look still on his face as he slowly made his way out of the room. "Koujaku..."


	2. Refutal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei reached out to him.
> 
> Aoba never stopped fighting.

_ **Oval Tower** _

_ **1 year after events  
** _

 

"Koujaku.... That hurt...," Shiroba sighed, but there was no anger in his voice. He sounded happy, relaxed, and his cheeks were tinted pink from his blush. "I told you.. not to do that..," he kept cooing, using his other hand to caress those beautiful red strands of hair.

 

Koujaku just growled at Shiroba, red eyes staring up at him with unbridled rage and, perhaps, a bit of lust. It was all twisted to Hell and back, but Shiroba _loved_ this Koujaku better than the old one. Raw, wild, untamed, beautiful. He had sunk his teeth in Shiroba's hand, drawing blood yet still not letting go, even after Shiroba tried to pull his hand away.

 

"Be a good boy now, Koujaku," Shiroba said sing-song voice, rolling his hips against Koujaku's groin, moaning sweetly as he felt the pleasure course through his body from where they were joined. "A-ah... That's it..," he praised, feeling Koujaku's grip on his hand loosen a bit.

 

Shiroba was covered in bite marks almost all over – shoulders, neck, arms, chest and, hell, even some of his lower body had them too (his thighs, for example). And he loved every bit of it, loved the contrast of his red blood against the paleness of his white skin, and, above all, loved the person they came from. He leaned forward and kissed Koujaku's forehead, biting him back in imitation, still grinding his hips against Koujaku's groin.

 

"Ah... Just like.. just like that, Koujaku," Shiroba praised him through choked moans and whimpers.

 

Just as Shiroba leaned forward to wrap his arms around Koujaku's neck he felt something sharp sink into his shoulder, and he let out a surprised cry of pain.

 

_But it felt so good._

 

Intoxicated with the shock from the pain Shiroba pushed his face in Koujaku's neck and kept rocking his hips in a trance. The sweetness from where they were connected that coursed through his body, combined with the sharp pain from where Koujaku had sunk his teeth in Shiroba's shoulder, both formed an overwhelming feeling of ecstasy in Shiroba's entire being. He laughed, moaned and kept rocking his hips, urging Koujaku to bite down even harder, tear it off if he wanted.

 

He couldn't care less.

 

As the heat pooled at the pit of his abdomen his movements became a bit more erratic, and the added pain of Koujaku's teeth gnawing at his shoulder added to that heat. It felt incredible, and soon enough Shiroba found it hard to breath or form any coherent words beyond gasps, moans and Koujaku's name.

 

"Ah, ah, aha...! Ko.. jaku... Kouja.. ku!" His voice rose with each breath, and the grip around Koujaku's neck tightened as he neared the edge.

 

Shiroba moved his head a bit and sank his own teeth in Koujaku's neck in return, muffling his moans as he felt his entire body numb with a strong impulse, his mind go blank for a brief moment, and he bit down even harder on Koujaku's neck as he went over the edge, feeling his inner walls clench around Koujaku's still-hard member inside of him. Shiroba heard Koujaku's growl get a bit louder and his entire body tense up, and soon after something warm filled him up from where they were joined. Shiroba didn't know if what Koujaku felt gave him pleasure or not, but right now he couldn't care as he trembled in ecstasy while he licked Koujaku's neck.

 

After Shiroba left him in his cage and went back up to the crisp white hallways of Oval Tower, he sighed and started walking in a random direction. This new world that Toue had created was boring – everyone was in a daze, doing whatever that man told them to, but for now it was all restricted to Midorijima. He's taken walks around the city and the Old Residential District more than once, and seeing the people that Aoba used to know now looking like mindless zombies walking the streets was somewhat amusing. He could still feel the other Aoba inside of him, clawing, screaming, biting, kicking, crying, trying to get out and help his friends, but he would never achieve that. _You kicked me down when all I did was protect you. Now it's your turn to suffer_ , he snapped back when he felt the familiar tingle again.

 

"... and then we can proceed with the plan," came Toue's voice from one of the rooms, stopping Shiroba in his tracks. "How is he doing?"

 

_How is who doing?_

 

"His vitals are getting weaker with each passing day," another man spoke, but Shiroba couldn't recognize the voice. Didn't care to, really. "I'm afraid he won't last another year, sir."

 

_Sei._

 

Shiroba knew that the other Aoba held some kind of love for the twin brother he never really knew in the first place, but in all honesty Shiroba couldn't find it in him to care. At least that's what he thought for the last few months before the real Aoba started rearing his head again and fucking it up. Shiroba sighed and kept walking.

 

"We still have his brother."

 

"I'm afraid he won't cooperate so easily, sir."

 

"We'll make him."

 

The voices faded in the background as Shiroba kept walking. _They can try_ , he thought, a smirk tugging at the edges of his lips. His mind jumped from one thought to the next as he walked down the hallways, until it started recallling past events – him and Koujaku infiltrating Oval Tower, Koujaku killing Ryuuhou and, finally, Aoba performing Scrap on Koujaku... and failing tremendously. It was funny, really, how the tables have turned and now the "real" Aoba was being beaten back and suppressed, just as he has done with his alter ego in the past.

 

_Please... Listen to me!_

 

_**Shut up.** _

 

_I'm begging you!_

 

**_Need I repeat myself, Aoba?_ **

 

This was getting ridiculous. It's been months now, yet this boy never gave up. Shiroba thought he was gone, but apparently he thought wrong. Aoba needed to be fully beaten into submission or, preferably, until he was completely gone. Shiroba sighed again, thinking about what the others were doing back in the Old Residential District – Noiz, Clear, Tae-san, Mizuki... Those were the names he could gather off the top of his head right now, and he remembers they held a special place in the other Aoba's heart. Shiroba has seen Mizuki out and about, sometimes even in Oval Tower, accompanied by Virus and Trip. The boy and his gang were still part of Morphine, as far as Shiroba was aware, but that didn't really strike him as something worth his time.

 

What _did_ piss him off, in fact, were those twins. Shiroba knew they weren't actual twins, but it was much easier to refer to them as such, and he didn't really want to bother talking to or spending time with them. But they always found a way to chat him up, showering him with compliments and praise, all bordering on creepy. _Just what kinds of people did you hang out with, Aoba?_ He thought, furrowing his brows when he saw the two familiar figures appear around the corner and start heading in his direction.

 

_Tch. Speak of the Devil and he shall come, no?_

 

"Aoba-san!" Virus grinned widely, spreading his arms out in a wide gesture. "What a pleasure to see you here."

 

"Yo, Aoba," Trip echoed, waving his hand in casual greeting.

 

Shiroba remained silent.

 

"We were just having a chat with your brother Sei...," Virus began, the tone in his voice suggesting something. "He was unresponsive for the most part, though," the man continued, his cold eyes locked with Shiroba's icy ones.

 

_What is he aiming for?_

 

Sei was Aoba's twin brother, yes, but it was _Shiroba_ who couldn't give a damn what happened to his twin, while the other Aoba stirred at the mention of that name.

 

"Oh?" Shiroba began, a light smirk playing on his lips, one thin brow slowly arching. "At least he's still alive," he nonchalantly said, waving a hand in the air dismissively.

 

The twins stood silent for a few moments before Trip finally decided to speak up:

 

"He's been asking for you. Not sure how he's still able to speak, though."

 

Something stirred inside Shiroba again, but he pressed it down even harder. His face remained a stone-cold, uninterested mask.

 

"That's where you were headed, right?" Virus smiled, but it held no warmth.

 

Shiroba didn't respond. What frustrated him the most about these two was that he couldn't break their minds, no matter how hard he tried. So he had to deal with their constant presence in the tower and their attempts to shower him with as many praises and compliments as possible. It felt good, at first, but it soon became tiresome. _Go do that to Toue, his ego's big enough for the both of you combined_ , Shiroba bitterly thought as his eyes flicked from one man to the other.

 

"Was I, really?" he chuckled, waving his hand dismissively. It caught them off guard. Good. "The kitchen is that way too, no? I was just about to grab a bite for my precious Koujaku," he grinned, a dreamy expression on his face as he stared off into the distance. "My beautiful beast..," he sighed.

 

Virus and Trip were a bit confused, to say the least, and Shiroba could practically _taste_ their growing uneasiness. But they were both skilled beyond belief at hiding it, so to any normal passerby it would look like they were just staring at Shiroba with small smiles, not bothered in the least by his weird antics.

 

"And we wouldn't want to keep him hungry, would we?" Virus finally spoke up, his voice holding a faked kindness, directing his question at Trip as he looked up at him. "It would be bad."

 

"It would be bad, indeed," Trip echoed, as he always did, with a nod of his head

 

 _He has you on a leash, my dear_ , Shiroba thought as he directed his gaze towards them again, that dreamy smile never leaving his face. He said his goodbye to them, not even bothering to wait for a response, and made his way past them, robes flowing behind him from the sudden rush of air as he moved. The two men were soon left behind somewhere in the maze of the identical white hallways, and soon enough Shiroba found himself stopping in front of a very particular door. It was a few shades darker than the others, had no windows and was labeled " _DANGER ZONE_ " with huge, yellow letters across it.

 

_He's in there! Brother!_

 

**_Shut it._ **

 

Shiroba pushed the doors open, walking into a significantly darker room. The walls were lined with multiple large test tubes, each filled almost to the brim with a strange, orange liquid. Bubbles rose from the bottom of each test tube, and each contained some type of deformed humanoid being. Shiroba gave up on figuring out what they were long ago, and instead walked to the end of the room, where the light turned from orange to white. Multiple black tubes came out of the wall and connected with a familiar, limp figure, it's pale white body covered in intricate black markings.

 

"Ah, brother dearest," Shiroba purred, tilting his head to the side as a smile tugged at his lips. "It has been some time, yet you still look as dashing as ever!" he chuckled, pale, icy blue eyes studying the fragile boy before him.

 

_No... Sei..._

 

**_Oh, so now you care?_ **

 

_He doesn't deserve this!_

 

**_Be quiet!_ **

 

Sei looked... dead. But the weak rise and fall of his chest indicated otherwise. His hair had grown all the way down to the floor. He was suspended in mid-air, held only by the tubes that were stuck to his entire back, his arms and his legs, keeping him in place. He was securely locked in a test tube, filled up with a transparent liquid, and his head was hung low, albeit a bit tilted to the side; exposing his hollowed out eyes and cheeks. The whites of his eyes had turned red, and the light in them was on the brink of fading out.

 

 _That man did say that Sei's vitals were_ _getting weaker_ _. Pity._

 

Sei's body had gotten thinner, too – his ribs, collarbones and hipbones were the ones that stuck out the most, making him look like a living corpse. His body was still keeping him alive as best as it could, but soon it would shut down and rely on those tubes to keep it going for another month, tops, before the systems shut down and Sei finally dies.

 

"I doubt you're still in there, brother," Shiroba started talking, crossing his arms over his chest and lifting one hand up to play with a strand of his own hair. "But you can still hear me, can't you?"

 

No response. Typical.

 

"It's sad that you won't last long. I was starting to like you, too," Shiroba sighed, pouting his lip. "Oh, well," he waved his hand dismissively, spinning on his heel and preparing to leave. "It was good while it lasted, no?" he chuckled, taking a step forward.

 

" _A... ao..._ "

 

Shiroba froze. What was that noise just now? It sounded like he was underwater and was hearing it, but could barely make out the words.

 

" _Br... o.. t.. he... r..."_

 

Shiroba slowly turned around, brows furrowing and eyes widening. He looked up at Sei, but the boy hadn't moved an inch. The only thing different was that now there were bubbles rising from Sei's now slightly parted lips.

 

" _Ao... ba..._ "

 

Shiroba turned around and sped out of the room, making sure to put as much distance as he could between him and that room.


	3. Outlining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first few days Noiz put up a fight, but was ultimately brought under Toue's control like everyone else.
> 
> A year later Clear appeared, like a saving grace, and pulled him out of what he thought would be a never-ending nightmare.
> 
> Now they prepare.

_ **Old Residential District** _

_ **1 week earlier** _

 

 

_"Noiz-san! Noiz-san!"_

 

_It was no use. No words were getting through to him, as he just stared blankly at the white-haired man. There was no light in his eyes, and that's what scared Clear the most._

 

_"Noiz-san, please!" he tried again. "It's me, Clear. We need to get you out of here, it's not safe," he kept on, grabbing Noiz by the wrist in an attempt to get him to move._

 

_It's been almost an entire year, and Toue's plan were advancing at an alarming rate. At this point Noiz couldn't remember his name, his face nor the sound of his own voice. He just sat there, huddled in the street corner, watching as people passed him by without paying him any mind. Thing is, they were the same as him – mindless zombies shambling about, looking like humans but completely gone on the inside._

 

_But that voice... That voice stirred something in him, even if it wasn't much, it was still enough to make him move his head and fix his eyes on the face looming over him._

 

_"Noiz-san!" Clear exclaimed again, this time with a small hint of relief. "Oh, I was so worried you were dead!" He kept on, pulling Noiz up and wrapping his arms around Clear's shoulders._

 

_Noiz wasn't sure if this was just a product of his imagination, but he couldn't find it in him to care at that moment. His limbs obeyed and moved in whichever direction Clear moved them, and he faintly felt an arm wrap around his middle before his feet started moving of their own accord._

 

_"We need to get to the North District before they find us," Clear mumbled as he carried a half-passed out Noiz through one of the back alleys._

 

_That's the last thing Noiz remembers with clarity. The rest was all a blur, and the next time he regained consciousness was to the soft humming of a song about dreams and jellyfish, and the haze in his mind slowly lifted until he saw a figure in a white dress shirt and baggy dark pants sitting on the floor, back rested against the couch, and his eyes closed._

 

 

_Was that... really him? Clear?_

 

_Even though he couldn't feel anything Noiz's body still refused to move. So he lay there, eyes half-lidded, watching the small smile on Clear's lips as he sang his song, the words lulling him back to a blissful sleep._

 

 

 

_ **North District (Abandoned)** _

_ **Present Day** _

 

 

"What is it?" Noiz grumbled again, after he was prodded once more by the restless man hovering above him.

 

"We need to find Master! Who knows what they've done to him!" Clear cried, hands on Noiz's shoulder, shaking it insistently. "And Koujaku-san, too! And the others! And-"

 

"Alright, alright," Noiz groaned, if only to make the anxious Clear shut his mouth for a bit and leave him alone. "I'm still working on this algorithm, so give me a moment."

 

"Algorithm?"

 

"That's what I said, yes."

 

"Oh."

 

Noiz sighed. He knew damn well they needed to find Aoba and that asshat of a man Koujaku, but infiltrating Platinum Jail and, consequently, Oval Tower, was going to be a tad bit difficult to accomplish. After Clear found him huddled up in a street corner, mindless and babbling something incoherent, the robot had actually taken him in and slowly coaxed him out of his trance. The song he sang was similar, but the melody was more soothing, gentle, and had no trace of that mind-piercing bass that the other, weirdly-dressed white freaks emitted every time they opened their fucking mouths. What did Clear call them again? _Oh, yeah, the Alpha Twins_ , he recalled and sighed again.

 

Suddenly an idea popped in his mind.

 

"Clear," he called out to the white-haired man who was currently folding clothes. "Come over here."

 

Clear stopped dead in his tracks and gave Noiz a curious look. The way his eyebrows were slightly raised up and barely scrunched, pink eyes questioningly staring at him and his lips were half-parted stirred a fluttering sensation in Noiz's chest, but he quickly ignored it and waited for him to approach. And he did, like a dog being called by its master, he moved across the small room in a couple of quick strides, kneeling down in front of Noiz, who was seated on the couch and had multiple holographic monitors and keyboards before him.

 

"So you told me you knew those freaks, right?" he asked and Clear nodded. "They're your brothers created by Toue. Therefore you are created by Toue," he kept on and Clear kept nodding in affirmative. "Do you happen to have anything in that brain of yours? Anything useful that could help us get past Platinum Jail security and, possibly, inside of Oval Tower?" he asked, his expression still blank, even if his brows were slightly furrowed as his green eyes observed the man before him.

 

Clear furrowed his brows for a moment, tilting his head down and making a humming sound under his breath. He seemed like he was thinking about it long and hard, so Noiz decided to give him a moment. The last few days were a mess – getting saved by Clear, getting his mind rid of the mess it had in it, and slowly returning to what he did best in order to find a way to save Aoba and Koujaku. And now Noiz couldn't fall asleep without hearing Clear's song, found himself craving it every time he closed his eyes and tried to drift off without hearing it, and Clear was more than happy to oblige. That man loved singing, and his crazy antics have made Noiz question if he was truly supposed to be like his twin brothers that were outside right now wreaking havoc in their own way, with their own song, and breaking people's minds in the process.

 

"I don't know how I know this, but I can get us in Platinum Jail without much fuss. I _am_ one of... Toue's... creations...," he mumbled, taking a fairly long pause between the last few words, looking away in shame. Noiz frowned in confusion. "But I can get us in! Just say when!" He suddenly bounced back, looking up at Noiz with an eager, wide-eyed and smiling expression.

 

Noiz's breath got stuck in his throat for a brief moment, but he quickly regained his senses and looked back at the computer screens, green eyes flicking between each monitor until they landed on the one in the middle. His fingers started typing away at the keyboard, but all the while he could feel Clear's eyes on him. Under normal circumstances such a thing wouldn't bother him, but after Aoba used Scrap and helped him regain feeling in his entire body, he's been taking more and more notice of how it reacted to the different situations it was presented with. He vaguely remembers fighting against the Alpha Twins, but ultimately failing the moment they opened their cursed mouths to sing that hellish song.

 

But, ultimately, he's noticed how every time Clear does something Noiz would catch himself staring a bit too long. But Noiz was... curious. Clear's profile was captivating, his gentle voice and kindness always threw him off guard, and his naïveté was a tad bit infuriating. But the way he smiled earlier... Noiz isn't sure what tugged at his heart at that moment, but Clear looked nothing like his siblings at that moment; he looked innocent, hopeful and eager. But Noiz has seen him in a fight and knows he can hold his own, even if he always apologizes after beating the bad guys up.

 

 _I am so kicking Aoba's ass once we get him out of Oval Tower. I need an explanation for this_ , he thought as he kept typing away the last bit of coding on the keyboard.

 

"Ah! The food!" Clear suddenly jumped to his feet and ran towards the kitchen, frantic, and Noiz watched him as he frantically opened the oven and complained how hot the steam rising from it was. "Oh, it's fine! It's not burned," he breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled the food out.

 

Noiz just watched him, a faint smile on his lips. He wasn't entirely sure why he was smiling, but the sight of a frantic Clear trying to make sure everything was perfect was kind of... endearing. But Noiz kept telling himself that it was just his mind getting used to feeling and thinking in a new way, so this was nothing more than that – watching a grown man act all flustered and frantic and thinking it was _funny_ and _endearing_. Yeah. Definitely.

 

A beeping sound caught his attention.

 

"It's done," Noiz said, tapping a key on the keyboard and pulling up the finished product on all three monitors before him. "Hey, you," he called over to Clear, who was still fussing over their lunch. "I need you again."

 

"A-ah!" Clear stammered, quickly untying the white apron and placing it on the dining chair. "Just a second, Noiz-san!" he called and, quickly adjusting his dress shirt and gloves, finally made his way to the boy in question.

 

"I need your data," Noiz said, straightforward and blunt. "The program is complete, but I need some of your data on Toue or whatever to make sure this works out perfectly," he added, hoping that Clear would understand.

 

_But does he trust me that much?_

 

"Oh! Alright!" Clear said before Noiz could delve in his own thoughts any further and quickly sat down on the ground again, this time with his back facing Noiz. "It's on the nape. Just press it gently," the white-haired man instructed him,

 

Noiz's eyebrows shot up in surprise. _He really trusts me with this? Damn..._ , he thought, but reached out and did as he was told anyway. He pressed his index and middle finger to the nape of Clear's neck and pulled his hand away, watching as it slid open and a port was exposed.

 

"You're like an old model," Noiz chuckled, watching as Clear tensed up at the words. "Stay here," he ordered and got up, going over to grab his bag and bring it over. It had all sorts of cables, electronics and the like, just in case. He still wonders how Clear managed to recover this.

 

"Well I'm not an Allmate," Clear said, and he was clearly pouting about it, too. "You and Aoba-san are always so mean..."

 

Noiz stopped dead in his tracks, the cable hovering above the port as he gave Clear a curious look. He didn't know how to respond to that, but the thought of Aoba, of all people, being mean was something he thought was ridiculous. _Then again I have seen him smack Clear upside the head quite a few times_ , he thought as he connected the cable to Clear's port and his own Coil, bringing up another holographic interface.

 

This programming was a bit complicated, and very well encrypted, but he still managed to get through it with the help of his Allmate, even if it did take him an entire hour to do it. _Toue's encryptions are difficult, but not what I expected_ , he thought as he watched the transfer of information come to an end.

 

And Clear even made small talk during that time.

 

He talked about his past, about his grandfather and how he would always tell Clear to wear the gas mask because his face was "different".

 

"Your face is okay," Noiz had told him.

 

Clear had fallen silent at that moment, and for a split second Noiz thought he said something wrong. But then the other man spoke up again.

 

"Thank you," he had whispered.

 

Noiz just hummed in response, green eyes moving from the screen to the back of Clear's head. A few images jogged his memories – Glitter, a dark room, Clear lying in bed wrapped in bandages. Noiz hovered over him for hours, using whatever tools he could find around the place – and whatever tools he himself had at hand – to fix Clear and bring him back. When he talked to Aoba about it he had said that he did everything he could, and it was true, but also a lie. After Aoba had slipped out in the middle of the night, thinking no one heard him, Noiz had gotten up and walked over to Clear's room to resume his attempts at fixing him.

 

_For some reason I refuse to give up on you. So wake up, dammit!_

 

"Noiz-san... Is it done?" Clear's voice snapped Noiz out of his memories. "I don't think there's any more information you can transfer from me, you know," he chuckled.

 

Noiz looked back to the screen and nodded, frowning. "You're free to go," he said, voice monotone, but apparently Clear caught the false mockery behind it. _He laughed._ "We're going to Platinum Jail tomorrow," he stated, getting up from the couch and watching as the screens flickered off and his Allmate floated up to land on the palm of his hand.

 

"Tomorrow?" Clear echoed, looking up at Noiz before he, too, got back up on his feet. They were standing a bit too close to each other, but Clear didn't seem to be bothered in the least by this closeness between them, pink eyes focused on Noiz's green ones. "We're saving Master?" he asked again, eager.

 

"Yes, we are," Noiz responded. Simple. Blunt.

 

His entire body went rigid all of a sudden. Arms, stronger than he thought they would be, wrapped around his upper half and pulled him in for a near bone-crushing hug, his body pressed flush to the other man's.

 

"Finally!" Clear exclaimed, obviously happy. Noiz wondered why his stomach felt like it had butterflies in it. "Thank you so much, Noiz-san!"

 

"Don't thank me yet, big guy," Noiz mumbled, voice slightly muffled, his face half buried in Clear's shoulder. "We're still in the North District," he reminded him.

 

"Oh! You're right, of course," Clear stammered, pulling away from the hug and giving Noiz an eager yet anxious look. "So everything's ready?"

 

"It is," Noiz confirmed with a nod. "Now let's eat. It's going to be a big day tomorrow."


	4. Retrospection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tae-san goes about her daily life, free of worries.
> 
> Until one night she opens the door upstairs and finds a small envelope on the blue covers of a single bed.

_ **Old Residential District** _

_ **Tae-san's home** _

 

A soft hum escaped through her closed lips, a melody of a long time ago, a time she could not really remember yet felt quite fond of. Blue hair, big hazel eyes filled with tears. The light-as-a-feather child she used to carry on her back, yet whose face she doesn't really remember, let alone his voice.

 

_Young boy, blue hair, hazel eyes, no voice, no face..._

 

The sound of something sizzling brought her out of her stupor and she looked down at the frying pan in front of her, suddenly remembering she was supposed to be making dinner. She turned the stove off and let the food stay for a while longer before taking it off and placing it in a brightly-colored food bowl. Tonight she was having plain cooked tempura rice, and even if somewhere in the back of her mind she knew this was too much food for one person, she still served the two bowls on the table and placed two pairs of chopsticks on the table. She sat down and clasped her hands together in prayer, uttering the phrase " _Thank you for the food_ ", and finally started eating.

 

Everything seemed normal. She ate, free from worry, but the other bowl of food remained untouched. The steam rose from it, but nobody was there to pick up the chopsticks and start eating before it turned cold. Tae cast a quick glance towards it and something almost clicked in her mind, but she quickly looked back at her own food and kept eating.

 

_He was born dead._

 

Tae emptied her bowl and got up, taking over to the sink to wash it. She took the other bowl, this one still full, and threw the food in the trash can. She washed it as well. The chopsticks were put away too, and after cleaning the table Tae went over to the front door, making sure it was locked, before she headed for the living room.

 

_Blue hair._

 

She turned on the TV, switching between random channels until she finally settled on one where Toue was, once again, being interviewed. He was talking about Platinum Jail and Midorijima, and how he planned to bring the Old Residential District together with the people of Platinum Jail, to create the "perfect place" for everyone. She smiled, nodding her head in agreement, then changed the channel.

 

_Hazel eyes._

 

The clock was nearing ten, and it was already dark outside. _Time for bed, I guess_ , she thought and switched off the TV, after which she slowly got up off the couch and made her way out of the living room and towards the stairs in the hallway. A quick thought flicked through her mind, the urge to call out to someone died in the back of her throat, yet her feet kept moving and the fog in her mind returned, sweeping everything under the rug once more.

 

_Always staying up late._

 

Her room was the same as always. Neat. Clean. No clothes thrown about, the bed perfectly made, and the window cracked open just enough for some air to come in and freshen it up a bit. Tae walked over to said window and slid it closed, then went over to the nightstand and pulled the drawer open, taking out some of her medicine and grabbing the water bottle that was at the foot of the bed. It was the usual routine every day, and that medicine kept her going every day because of her old age. But she was still a springy one, and hardly anything could bring her down.

 

_Never on time for work._

 

Something shifted in her mind. Tae placed the water bottle down on the ground again and got up, walking towards the door and opening it. She looked out at the hallway, dark after all the lights were off, and saw the faint outline of another door, painted blue, across the hallway. Something tugs at her heart, but she closes the door, changes into her nightgown, turns the lights off and goes to bed.

 

 

_ **The next day...** _

 

"Oh, thank you very much, Tae-san!" the young lady exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Your medicine has helped my daughter a lot! You are truly a kind lady," she smiled, holding her two-year-old child in her arms.

 

"Of course," Tae smiled, nodding her head. "Your little girl is a fighter, too. She'll be fine," she assured the young lady, then sent them off with a wave of her hand.

 

Today was like any other. Tae helped around the local hospital, giving treatment and medicine to whoever needed it, and helping with physical therapy for people that required it, and it was generally a smooth sail throughout the entire day. She even visited Yoshie that day, a package of medicine grasped firmly in her hands.

 

"Ah, Tae-san!" the woman exclaimed, grinning as Tae entered her establishment. "So good to see you today! What brings you around?" She circled around the counter and pressed the palms of her hands together.

 

"Medicine for one of my patients. They live in the South District, and I'm not as young as I used to be," Tae said, and both of them laughed at her last statement.

 

It all went well, really. They had a nice chat, Yoshie sent the package off, and then they went out for some tea (Yoshie kept insisting she was on a break). They sat down at a nearby café, ordered some Shincha tea and made small talk about everything and nothing in general.

 

_Pale face, worried, dropping to his knees._

 

"Have you heard?" Yoshie began after taking a sip of her tea and placing the cup down. "Toue is planning on extending his offer to the Mainland, too. He hopes to bring people together in peace! Isn't that amazing?"

 

It took Tae longer than she would've liked to respond to that.

 

"It is, indeed," was all that she managed to push out through her lips.

 

_He carried you home._

 

The walk back home was uneventful. Everyone was happy and calm, going about their business, just as they always have done. The same routine of cleaning the house and heating up the dinner from last night. Again it was for two people, and she sat down on the table, said her prayers and began eating.

 

_He saved you._

 

Tae washed the dishes, locked the door and made her way up the stairs, as per usual. But today was somehow... different. She knew she was making dinner for two, but she didn't know _why_. She lived alone, right? So who was this other person she kept cooking for?

 

_Blue hair, hazel eyes, bright smile..._

 

Tae entered the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She let her hair loose and combed her fingers through it, if only to not have it sticking out too much, then walked out and turned off the light.

 

_**Granny.** _

 

That door caught her attention again. Something tugged at her heartstrings, made her mind race and tried to get her feet to move in that direction. _But why? That room has always been empty._ But her mind kept racing, and her chest only felt tighter with each passing second. Something kept whispering in her mind since yesterday, flashes of someone she was supposed to know but couldn't bring herself to remember, an urge that drove her to fuss over _someone_ and cook for that _someone_ and ask herself where that _someone_ was now.

 

_**I'll remember to lock the door next time, Granny. Promise.** _

 

_I keep hearing that every day!_

 

Tears stung her eyes and she couldn't understand _why_ she was crying. But before she could even figure that out she realized her feet were moving on their own, carrying her towards that door painted in blue, her heart beating faster with each step she took.

 

_I used to carry you like this when you were young, you know?_

 

_**Really?** _

 

_Yes. When you would cry because you felt lonely I'd pick you up on my back, and carry you like this until you calmed down._

 

_**And now I'm carrying you, huh?** _

 

_Shut up._

 

A dam was opening in her mind. She could feel the memories slowly pouring back in, little by little, and soon that dam would break and set them all loose, all at once, and it would overwhelm her. Tae stopped in front of the door and reached out, hand shaking, towards the door handle. She gripped it and pushed it down, then pushed the door open, peeking inside the dark room.

 

_**I worry about you, Granny.** _

 

She turn the lights on and her eyes scanned the room. There was a dark blue jacket hanging on the wall, the door leading to the veranda was left halfway open and the bed was neatly made. There was an envelope carefully placed in the middle, as if someone knew she would eventually end up entering this room.

 

_But why does it feel so familiar? Who am I forgetting?_

 

Tae walked over to the bed and picked up the envelope, then sat down. She stared at it for a few seconds, turning it over in her hands to see if there was a name written on it, something to indicate who this was from, but there was nothing. The only thing that she saw on it was a tiny jellyfish, drawn with black ink, as if it was the sender's signature or something.

 

_**He said his umbrella reminded him of jellyfish.** _

 

_Jellyfish?_

 

_**Yeah. He likes them, apparently. He also wonders if they dream.** _

 

_... What an odd man indeed._

 

She opened the envelope and pulled the folded piece of paper out, placing the envelope on the bed beside her. She unfolded the paper and furrowed her brows in confusion, eyes skimming over the words until they settled on a single name. Tae's heart skipped a beat. Her head felt light. The moment she was done reading the message her entire body felt numb, and she dropped the piece of paper on the ground, eyes blank.

 

The dam broke. She remembered.

 

_Aoba. My grandson. I... I remember now._

 

A faint melody drifted inside the room through the open door of the veranda, and she recognized the words. They spoke of dreams and jellyfish, and her mind became even more flooded with memories, until something wet fell on her hands and she realized she was actually crying.

 

"Aoba... My boy, Aoba...," she whispered, hiding her face in her hands and sobbing. "Aoba..."

 

And, up on the roof, a man in a white trench coat and a gas mask was sitting down, umbrella in hand, staring up at the night sky as the words of the song rolled off his tongue and the soft cries of the old woman reached his ears.

 

_Aoba..._


	5. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tae-san sleeps, recovering both her mind and body. 
> 
> Clear and Noiz bond over plans of infiltration, speculations for the future, and a small emotional breakdown on Clear's part.
> 
> Three Allmates remain by Tae's side.

 

**_Old Residential District_ **

**_North District_ **

_ **Clear's House** _

 

 

Noiz ran his fingers through his hair, trying to suppress another irritated sigh that was threatening to push past his closed lips. This was the third time in a row that he's tried to break through Platinum Jail's communications' encryption and failed royally. Even Clear's help wasn't enough, and the poor guy wasn't well versed in hacking to begin with. _And he's a robot. Go figure._

 

"Of course, Grandma," came a voice from upstairs and Noiz lifted his brows, casting a quick glance in the direction of the staircase that led up to Clear's bedroom. "Now get some rest, please."

 

 _Right._ Tae-san was here. Clear had brought her in hours ago, and the poor woman looked like she'd been through all kinds of hell. _Can't blame her. But she's a tough one, I'll give her that_ , Noiz thought as he recalled how pale she looked when Clear brought her in. She seemed to lack energy, her eyes and face were expressionless and barely any words reached her. Clear had carried her upstairs to his bedroom, after which he had proceeded to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

 

"Noiz-san!" Clear had called a couple of hours later from where he was hanging the recently washed clothes to dry. "Can you heat up some soup for Grandma? She should be waking up any minute now."

 

Noiz had done as he was asked to, and even put some bread and a small chocolate bar he had found wrapped up and hidden in one of the cupboards. She needed all the energy she could get, he figured, as he carried the food up the stairs to her room. He had placed the tray with the food on the makeshift bedside table, but just as he was about to leave he felt fingers wrap around his wrist. His eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks, his body refusing to move for some reason.

 

"Wh... where....," a weak voice had whispered from behind, and Noiz slowly turned around to look at Tae-san's face. Her eyes were still closed, she still looked rather weak and pale, but her grip was strong. "Ao... ba...," she barely choked out the name through dry lips.

 

"You need to rest, Tae-san," Noiz had said instead, trying to gently coax her hand to release his wrist from its tight hold. "We'll go get him. He'll be home safe soon, I promise."

 

If _we survive this._ Why'd he just promise it like that, out of the blue, without knowing what would happen for sure? To make _her_ feel better? To make _himself_ feel better? He wasn't really sure, not anymore, but he needed to put her mind at ease, if just for now. _A cruel way to do it_ , a voice in his mind whispered, but he ignored it for now, knowing all too well that what he was doing was probably wrong. What if Aoba was already beyond saving? What if Koujaku was dead? Hell, what if _both of them_ were dead? This would all be for nothing, save for bringing Toue down and freeing Midorijima from his cruel control over it. Noiz sighed, getting up from the bed he was seated on – _weird to think Clear's grandpa used to sleep on it –_ and walked outside, looking up at the sky for a few brief moments. Hues of blue, pink and purple mixed together as the sun set in the horizon to the west, creating a rather spectacular view, and the wind rustled whatever trees happened to be nearby, his hair and his clothes. This place may have been sitting here, abandoned and rotting away, but it was also somewhat... comfortable. Welcoming. Homey, in its own way. Safe. Noiz could tell that it wasn't entirely forgotten, not with the way he kept seeing the other man look at the house whenever he thought he was alone – a faint smile on his lips, nostalgia in his eyes and his knees hugged to his chest while he sat on the ground. It was moments like those that made Noiz wonder just how something that was created by Toue, something that could've been out there right now messing with people's heads, could actually be so childlike, so naïve, so clueless about a lot of things, yet hold his own in a fight and stand up for himself whenever someone tried to mock him. Noiz would know, as he's been on the receiving end of those harsh words, but he didn't mind; it made him somewhat proud, in fact. Clear wasn't such a lost cause, after all.

 

Besides, there was something charming in the way he always seemed to get that clueless expression on his face whenever Noiz made a weird joke or said something, ahem... inappropriate.

 

"And we're done!" Clear exclaimed happily, snapping Noiz out of his thoughts. "Ah, Noiz-san! I didn't see you there!" He waved energetically, and Noiz waved back.

 

Clear was a weird man indeed. Despite the troubles they were facing and the impending mission hanging over them like a bad omen. Yet he could get serious when the situation called for it, especially with Aoba's life on the line, and Noiz found that sudden shift in personality rather curious. _I wish I could study him. But that would be creepy, no?_ At least that's what he thought Clear would take it as. Or anyone else, really. That's how normal people worked, right? Noiz was pretty sure they'd consider this "out of the ordinary" or whatever, but his curiosity wouldn't leave him alone. He sighed and tilted his head in the direction of the house, silently telling Clear that they had to get back to work. Clear's mouth hung open for a brief second, eyes wide and questioning, but the gears in his head seemed to turn quickly – _probably literally, in his case,_ \- and he hurriedly followed Noiz inside the house. There was a roughly drawn map of what was supposed to be Platinum Jail, with all its districts marked, and Noiz had even pulled up some images from various websites to compare them better. They needed any leverage they could get at this point, and Clear apparently knew nor remembered nothing of that place.

 

"I still remember the old tunnel that leads to Platinum Jail," Clear said, looking at the images of the place. "Haga-san showed it to us, no? When all of us got that invitation?" he asked, turning his big, questioning pink eyes towards Noiz.

 

Noiz only gave a hum and a nod in response as his fingers kept typing away at the keyboard. Clear looked down at his roughly drawn out map and sighed, casting another quick glance at another image of Platinum Jail, this time taken from above, giving all the districts a better view. Noiz remembers that green playground pretty well, with all the flashing lights and the big screens advertising all the big games and consoles, with Rhyme being the most popular among them. And the food stands. God, the food there was incredible. He knew that now wasn't the time to think about it, but as his fingers typed away at the keyboard and his eyes watched the firewall on the screen for any "cracks", he kept thinking back on that day – going out with Aoba, actually tasting all those different foods, getting into a fight and realizing that maybe, just maybe, not everyone was as cold and heartless as he had made them out to be. Because Aoba broke that idea. He tore it down and made it disappear. Not completely, perhaps, because not everyone was as kind as him, but to a huge extent nonetheless. Aoba had treated his wounds repeatedly, gotten him out of dangerous situations even though Noiz could perfectly fend for himself, and... saved him. With the power of Scrap.

 

Now that worth getting into all this trouble for. To save Aoba. To save the man that helped all of them, without ever asking for anything in return. _If only things had turned out better._

 

"... and then I can mimic their electronic signature, which will let us through without much fuss," Clear's voice cut through the haze in Noiz's mind, making him focus on the robot again. "Got it?" he asked, a small grin on his face as he looked up at Noiz expectantly.

 

"What?" Noiz mumbled, dumbfounded.

 

Clear's eyebrows shot up in surprise, eyes widening.

 

"Noiz-san? Weren't you listening?" he asked, bewildered.

 

Noiz shook his head.

 

Clear looked rather concerned, but Noiz just stared back at him as if demanding he explain the plan one more time without asking any unnecessary questions. Clear sighed and looked down at his crudely drawn map before he started speaking.

 

"I _said_ that I know when my brothers will be out and about to sing their Dye Music," he said, sliding another piece of paper – _wait, he drew another map?_ \- across the covers. This one looked to be a crude outline of the Old Residential District. Kind of. "One of them will be here-" he said, pointing to a circled out spot on the map, marked with the initials WD, "-and the other will be over here." The spot where Clear pointed next was the South District, marked with the initials SD, which would mean that the previous one was an abbreviation for the West District.

 

"Alright," Noiz said, stopping his typing and turning his full attention on Clear. "What's next?" he asked.

 

"We need to ambush them and ask them to hand over their mask and clothes. And then we go to Platinum Jail!" Clear exclaimed, full of confidence, and clasped his hands together, a wide grin on his face and a sparkle in his pink eyes. "As I said earlier, our design is pretty much identical, so even if I'm considered 'broken' I can still mimic their signature and get us in!"

 

Noiz frowned. _Ask them? Really? Dear God..._

 

"I'm pretty sure they'll be happy to part with their clothes," he remarked sarcastically, turning his attention back on the monitors. "I bet they'll even tag along for the mission, help us out and all that stuff," he kept on, and, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Clear hang his head low and slump his shoulders.

 

"I guess...," he mumbled, looking away. "They won't agree that easily, will they?" he asked, sounding... distant. Timid. Doubtful.

 

 _Damn. Did I really hurt him that much?_ _Nice going, fuck face._

 

"It's do or die, Clear," Noiz said, finally turning the monitors off and turning his full attention on the white-haired man, green eyes entirely focused on Clear. "Look at me," he ordered, but there was no harshness in his voice. "Clear." He tried again. Finally the other man obliged. "We need to take one of your brothers out. There's no other way to go about this. Do you understand?" he asked, hoping that some of it would get through to Clear.

 

Clear mumbled something, but Noiz couldn't quite hear him, so he leaned a bit closer. But he didn't expect to hear a sob, nor to see Clear's shoulders shaking, then his entire body trembing. When he tried to reach out Clear just shrunk into himself more, avoiding any contact, and for a moment Noiz was left speechless. _Is his mind getting overloaded? Or is this the robot equivalent of an emotional breakdown?_ Noiz thought , wondering what he was supposed to do now. Did he have to wait it out? Try to talk to him? He knew that Clear was worried about Koujaku and Aoba, but he never really thought just how much of a toll all of this must've taken on his mind. It _has_ been an entire year for him, laying low and hoping to avoid his brothers and Toue, while at the same time, most likely, he was going back to the other districts to try and find traces of anyone – Tae, Mink or anyone else, really. And he finally ended up saving Noiz. It was a victory, but a small one, and both of them knew that. Clear had managed to save Tae-san too, but how long could he keep this up until someone started getting suspicions and coming here to look for them.

 

"Noiz-san...," Clear hiccuped, voice low, so much that Noiz thought he was starting to hear things. "Noiz-san...," the other man hiccuped again.

 

Noiz furrowed his brows in confusion and leaned forward again, cautiously reaching out with one hand and placing it carefully on Clear's shoulder. He was wearing only his dress shirt and scarf, while his trench coat was placed behind him. Noiz gave Clear's shoulder a light squeeze, somewhat bringing him out of his trance and back to reality.

 

"I'm here, Clear," he said, hoping his voice reached him.

 

"We-we're going to sa-save Aoba-san, right?" he hiccuped again, lifting his head to look up at Noiz. Tears were falling from his eyes and he looked desperate for an answer, any kind of answer really. "A-and Kou-Koujaku-san too!" he added, jumping forward and grasping the front of Noiz's shirt, pink eyes wide and pleading. "We will, right?!" he demanded again.

 

Noiz just stared at him for a few moments. What was he supposed to say? That they would be successful? But what if it turned out to be a lie? _And what if we_ do _succeed? What then?_ Noiz pursed his lips and breathed out through his nose, lifting both arms up and wrapping them around Clear's upper body. Clear made a confused noise, but did not protest when he was pulled towards Noiz's chest and had Noiz's arms wrap around him in a somewhat comforting embrace. _This is how you're supposed to do this, right? This is how you calm people down?_ Noiz's mind raced the entire time. He wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do, so he resorted to the next best thing he could remember seeing other people do – hugging. He's seen it work before with mothers wiping the tears from their children's faces and giving them a tight hug, or a couple hugging it out after an argument, or even best friends meeting up or saying goodbye with a hug. It seemed simple, and it looked like it worked, so Noiz figured it would do the trick here. _And I need to figure out why the hell my heart feels like it's going to be torn to pieces each time I see him so sad_ , he reminded himself in the meantime.

 

"We'll save them," he said, trying to sound confident. If he believed it, too, then maybe it would work out. "We will. Then we'll bring Oval Tower down, and get our lives back to normal. We'll go out, get drinks, talk and do all those fun stuff. Maybe...," he trailed off, remembering something. "Maybe I can take you to see the jellyfish then." The jellyfish. Noiz still remembered how much Clear seemed to love them, going as far as to get an umbrella and use it regardless of whether it was raining or not just because it reminded him of those sea creatures.

 

"The...," Clear sniffled, bringing his arms around Noiz's middle and hugging him back. Noiz's heart skipped a beat at that moment. "The jellyfish?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

 

A lump was stuck in Noiz's throat. _Goddammit, pull yourself together!_ He cleared his throat.

 

"Yeah. There ought to be a place full of them at Platinum Jail. If the place's still running after Oval Tower goes down, then I promise I'll take you there as soon as we're finished," he said, and he meant it. For some reason he's started feeling fond of the white-haired man, and in such a short amount of time, too. "And if there isn't, well...," he trailed off for a bit before finding the right words. "We can always go scuba diving," he finally said.

 

"Scuba diving?" Clear echoed, obviously a bit confused.

 

"Yep. We just need to get those assholes out of Oval Tower first," he said, trying to pass that false confidence to Clear, to lift his mood, even if just for a bit.

 

A chuckle escaped Clear and his grip on Noiz's middle tightened. Noiz's heart started beating a bit faster for some reason, but he tried to ignore it and held on to the other man for as long as he needed it.

 

"We can do it. I know it, Noiz-san," Clear finally said, moving his head up and burying it in the crook of Noiz's neck. "I... I just have a good feeling about it," he said again, sounding more confident than before.

 

And he was probably feeling confident, too. If that was the case, then Noiz could feel a bit better about their odds, because he knew all too well that if Clear had a good feeling about things, then they would definitely go well.

 

**_"I had a good feeling about it, so I finally came to rescue you."_ **

 

_"Why wait an entire year, though?"_

 

**_"You_ did _put up a big fight. It made it harder for me to track you down after that."_ **

 

_"Oh?"_

 

**_"I guess my brothers wanted to make sure you wouldn't be too much of a problem, so they tossed you in the darkest alley they knew of."_ **

 

_"How generous of them."_

 

**_"And they made sure you stayed under, too. But they were sloppy. They got too full of themselves. So I saw my opening and came to get you out."_ **

 

_"Well... Thanks."_

 

**_"You're welcome, Noiz-san. I just... I just wish I could've found you sooner."_ **

 

_"Don't sweat it."_

 

**_"I... Okay."_ **

 

Noiz would be forever grateful for the day Clear finally found and rescued him. He might have been a year late, but it was understandable, given the circumstances, and he wasn't about to hold a grudge over something Clear obviously had little to no control over. So they stood like that for awhile longer, holding each other, and Clear finally calmed down enough to start functioning properly again. Clear cooked dinner while Noiz cleaned up the place as best he could, then he went upstairs to check on Tae. She had apparently woken up at some point to eat her food, after which she had gone back to sleep. Noiz just made sure everything was in check – full glass of water on her nightstand, blinds lowered and closed, window slightly cracked open to let some air in, covers comfortably tucked around Tae, all that general stuff. Finally he made his way downstairs again, where he and Clear both had dinner and went to have another long chat over the crudely-drawn maps of both Platinum Jail and the West and South districts of the Old Residential District. When the clock marked midnight they both resigned themselves to go to sleep and, since Tae was upstairs, they had to share this bed now. Thankfully it was big enough, and neither of them had an issue with it, so they were fast asleep within seconds of their heads hitting the pillows.

 

The next day came with the sky's colors turning from black to a dark purple, with only slight hints of pink here and there. The sun wasn't up yet, but Clear and Noiz were, preparing for their assault on one of the Alpha Twins. This one would supposedly be roaming the West District just as the sun went up and people started going to work, so the walk there would be just the right amount of time for their plan to work out as they had intended.

 

"You got everything?" Noiz asked, holding one of his rabbit cubes in one hand, green eyes looking at Clear's frantic form.

 

"I think I do!" Clear exclaimed, patting his coat and checking all of his pockets. _I bet he has an entire table in there. I still do. Nobody can convince me otherwise._ "Yes, I have everything!" he finally said, grabbing his umbrella and placing it in one of his trench coat's inner pockets.

 

"Let's get a move on, then," Noiz said and flicked his wrist, sending his Usagimodoki Allmate flying in the air and going up to the second floor. "He'll be looking after Tae along with the other two. He'll also be reporting on her condition," he said when he saw Clear's questioning look.

 

"Oh! Alright, then!" Clear smiled, and they both made their way out of the house.

 

Their mission began.

 

Back home, on the covers of Tae's bed, right at her feet, lay a blue lump of fur. It was curled up, apparently in Sleep Mode, and had a red sparrow nestled in its fur, also in Sleep Mode. Usagimodoki landed beside the glass of water on the nightstand and waited, while Ren and Beni remained in sleep mode at Tae's feet. Now it was all up to Clear and Noiz to get Aoba and Koujaku back safely, and bringing their Allmates into Platinum Jail, especially the likes of _them_ , would arouse suspicion much faster and bring their mission to a quick end. Besides, it was Ren that had talked Beni into staying in the first place.

 

_"It is the most logical plan, Beni," Ren repeated again.  
_

 

_"Bullshit! We need to be there for our masters!" Beni cut him off, puffing out his feathers angrily.  
_

 

_"I understand your anger, Beni, but please reconsider. This is the safest option," Ren tried again, hoping to get his friend to see reason and not lash out before thinking things through.  
_

 

_"Fucking... Ugh! Fine! I'll stay. But you two better bring Koujaku and Aoba back safe and sound!" Beni's attention was now turned towards Noiz and Clear.  
_

 

_"We will." Noiz said.  
_

 

_"Don't worry, Beni-san! They won't come to harm with us!" Clear promised, cheerful.  
_

 

_"They better not! Or I'll have a word with you two!" Beni threatened them, but it was also a rather amusing sight, really. Then again that sparrow could do some real damage when threatened.  
_

 

_"Enough, Beni," Ren cut him off, colder than he had intended to.  
_

 

_"Alright, Ren, alright. But I'm watching you two!" Beni grumbled, shooting a warning look at the two men.  
_

 

_"We will do our best." Noiz said, hands in his pockets, voice monotone. But he meant it. Every single word.  
_

 

_"We'll get them back! Pinky swear!" Clear said, cheerful as always, hands clasped together, a bright smile on his face.  
_

 

_"I'm sure Aoba will be happy to see you both. Please... Please bring him back," Ren whispered, voice pleading, wagging his tail a couple of times, albeit weakly as his black eyes looked up from one man to the other.  
_

 

_"Don't worry, Ren Ren. We'll get him back!" Clear ruffled Ren's fur, trying to put him at ease.  
_

 

_"Thank you."  
_


	6. Desecration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mizuki wakes up on a cold floor, collared and handcuffed.
> 
> Aoba tries to retake his own body.

 

 ** _Oval Tower_ _  
_** ******_Five days later..._ **

 

Half his body felt numb while the other half screamed in agony. The sharp, burning sensation on his neck, where the Morphine tattoo is, was all he could focus on. A voice inside his head screamed in agony, clawed at his walls and demanded he find a way out of this misery.

 

_I can't... I can't..._

 

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, but even this proved a hassle and a pain as conflicting thoughts corrupted his mind.

 

_**Kick.** _

 

_Stay put._

 

_**Scream.** _

 

_Obey._

 

_**Lash out.** _

 

_Don't do anything._

 

_**Get out of here.** _

 

But he couldn't. His hands and feet were cuffed together, and a chain was collared around his neck, keeping his head in place. The floor was cold as ice, save for the spot he was curled on, and goosebumps covered his entire body. There was a pulsing pain from the tattoo on his neck

He was exhausted and unable to focus. While it would potentially be possible to block out the pain, there was no way to block out the exhaustion. He longed for his bed, a hot bath, or just a fluffy pillow to lie on, but right now that wasn't an option for him. Right now all he cared about was carrying on and ignoring the pain and, if possible, finding a way out of here.

 

_Footsteps. They're here._

 

_**Fight back.** _

 

_I can't._

 

**_Do it!_ **

 

Mizuki doesn't remember having such loud conflicts in his own mind before. Was this an after-effect from what Morphine did to him? From what those two yakuza guys drugged him with? _Maybe I should sleep. They're here, but I want to... to sleep..._ , he thought, his consciousness slowly fading in and out as he saw two pairs of legs approach him. He had no strength left in him to move his head or body, but he knew all too well who they belonged to.

 

Virus and Trip.

 

Cold shivers shot through Mizuki's body and both his hands and legs started trembling. With the passing of each moment the pain only seemed to get worse and worse. For a moment he feared it would never stop. It became harder and harder to swallow the pain, to ignore the sensations and the voices telling him to give up and fight back at the same time, to resist but also obey, and for a split second Mizuki wondered if there was an object sturdy enough in the room to wrap the chain of his collar around and... just end it. Or to drown himself in the bathtub when they weren't looking.

 

"He's still in and out of it, isn't he?" a voice spoke, and it took Mizuki a moment to recognize who it was coming from. _Virus._

 

"He sure is," another voice echoed. _Trip_. "What a pathetic sight he makes."

 

"Now, Trip," Virus cut him off, voice calm but cold, with a commanding undertone to it. "The effects of the drugs _did_ start to wear off, remember?" he arched a brow, a thin, cold smile on his lips as he spoke.

 

They both looked utterly disinterested in what they were saying and doing, but in all the time he's been around them Mizuki just _knew_ it was the complete opposite. His memories are blurry, but he could pick out some that were not as fucked up as the rest and actually recall what had happened to him since Toue's rise to power.

 

"Break him in. Again."

 

That was Virus' voice. They were going to do it again. His mind and body were exhausted, but completely used to this treatment by now. He couldn't even feel the sting of the needle anymore. He kept wondering why they did this to _him_ only, why his team was drugged once and never again. _That's not fair and you know it, Mizuki. They don't deserve this. They're family, and you need to save them_ , his mind reeled, but Mizuki wasn't sure they'd follow him if he brought them back. Worst case scenario would be them turning their backs on him. Or beating him up. Either way worked. Death worked too. He deserved that much after the shitstorm he put them through just because he was too damn weak to see the important things and to _not sell his entire family to Morphine_.

 

Something cold touched his shoulder and his body slightly flinched. An amused " _ah_ " came from the person crouching beside him, and when Mizuki moved his eyes to see who it was, there he saw Virus' smiling face, his ice blue eyes staring back at him, empty yet slightly amused at the same time.

 

"Are you feeling okay today, Mizuki?" he asked, feigning concern, but Mizuki knew better.

 

Or he _thought_ he did. He didn't have full control over his mind and body right now. Morphine's drug was still coursing inside of him, making him say and do things that his sober side completely disagreed with.

 

"I'm... fine...," he spoke slowly, his voice monotone.

 

"Good."

 

Mizuki closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. His muscles were sore, his body was slightly trembling, and he knew it was fighting against the effects of the drug. They _w_ _ere_ wearing off, but Mizuki couldn't really blame his own body for its attempts to speed up the process of elimination. He saw Trip walk out of the room while Virus remained, and he still felt the coldness of that man's hand on his bare shoulder.

 

"We'll fix you soon," Virus assured him, sounding calm, but Mizuki's mind was screaming at him to _shut up_.

 

A wave of nausea crept over Mizuki. His head started feeling light, it felt like the room was spinning and Virus' voice sounded like an echo from afar. He was speaking, yes, but Mizuki couldn't make out what he was saying. He shut his eyes and groaned, his stomach was getting unsettled, and he felt like throwing up.

 

Worst of all, Virus _still_ kept talking.

 

_Shut the fuck up. Please._

 

Mizuki heard the sound of something clicking and felt the tightness around his wrists disappear. He wasn't sure if it was real or not, and couldn't really dwell on it too much when he started dry heaving as his body tried to push _something_ out, but failed tremendously. A hand was on his back, rubbing gentle circles there, and somewhere in his mind lay the urge to smack that hand aside and run out of this place. __But where to?_ _ Mizuki's throat burned as his stomach flipped and tried to push something out, but it couldn't, because it's probably been two days since he last ate anything.

 

"You took your time, Trip," someone spoke, and Mizuki heard him through the haze in his mind. "Give it here."

 

Mizuki's body slowly calmed down, but tremors still shook it from time to time. He coughed and clutched his stomach, and soon realized that he _wasn't_ supposed to be able to move his hands in the first place. _Did he... release me?_ But the chains around his ankles told another story. _Of course he wouldn't_. Mizuki mentally kicked himself for thinking that Virus would be as fucking generous as to uncuff him entirely.

 

"Hold him," another voice ordered, and Mizuki froze.

 

_Trip. He's back._

 

But his body refused to move. He's been beaten and drugged into submission so many times during the last... year? Months? He wasn't really sure how long it's been, but his mind and body both apparently knew their lesson and, even if some part of him was screaming internally to _not let them do this, please, God, no_ , Mizuki still didn't move a muscle. He didn't even feel the tip of the needle as it pierced his skin, nor the liquid as it was pushed inside of him, and only watched as the colors before him lost their vibrancy and everything became... dull.

 

"He's ready," Virus said, sounding a bit proud, actually.

 

"Let's get him to work, then," Trip scoffed, and Mizuki heard him move around a bit, placing something on the table – the syringe, probably – before he returned to the two men.

 

The last thing Mizuki remembers seeing as they walked out of the room, before his mind fully succumbed to the drug, was a glimpse of a person dressed entirely in white, with only a few red ornaments on his robe, looking at them from across the hallway.


	7. Reminisce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They think back on the old, and plan ahead for the new.

 

_**Old Residential District** _

_**Local Park** _

 

_Sobs raked his body as he sat on the edge of the slide, face hidden in small hands as they tried to stop the tears falling from his amber eyes. The sun had already set and night had fallen, but the street lights were enough for the boy to know where he was and how to get back home. But he didn't want to go back home, because then he'd be alone and the only thing that would keep him up would be the unbearable tick-tock of the clock that was already pointing hours past five in the afternoon. Last time he checked his Coil it was around eight in the evening, but he didn't care. Granny wasn't home yet, so he had gone outside, hoping to outrun this feeling of loneliness that crept up inside him and squeezed his tiny heart._

_"Aoba?"_

_Granny? No, that wasn't her. That voice didn't belong to Granny. It was a tad bit deeper than his own, yet clearly belonged to a child, albeit one that was a few years older than himself._

_"Aoba, is that you?" the voice called out again, and soon enough the figure of a child, taller than himself, stepped out from behind the shadows of the slide. "Why are you here?" He asked, stepping forward._

_"Hey, what's wrong?" the other boy asked, crouching down in front of him. "Why are you crying?"_

_"I'm not...," Aoba sniffled, wiping at his tears furiously so he could give the other boy his most serious look. "I'm not crying!" he insisted, lip pouted and brows furrowed._

_But his eyes were still glistening with tears, and his cheeks were wet from where he had smeared them in an unsuccessful attempt to dry them off with the sleeves of his jacket._

_"Alright, alright," the other boy chuckled, reaching out with one hand and using his index finger to wipe away a stray tear that had just escaped Aoba's eye. "You were not crying. Of course not."_

_Aoba sniffled again and slightly winced his eye as he felt the other boy's finger brush against his cheek right under it. He wondered, briefly, why he was all the way out here. Wasn't he supposed to be back home with his mom?_

_"So, tell me," Koujaku began, folding his hands over his knee as he kept his eyes trained on Aoba. "What's the matter?"_

_Aoba looked down for a moment, fiddling with the edge of his fluffy jacket. Should he tell why he was crying? Or should he just brush him off and ignore him? But why would he do the latter? Weren't they friends? So many questions whirled inside his brain, and the voices that added to them weren't helping in the least. Aoba sniffled again and lifted a hand up to wipe his nose, then sniffled again._

_"... Granny," he finally mumbled, but it was so low he doubted Koujaku heard him._

_"Hm?"_

_"Granny didn't come home," he tried again, and closed his eyes when he felt the familiar sting of the tears coming back._

_"Tae-san?" Koujaku asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise._

_"She said she'd be home by five, but-" he hiccuped, unable to stop the flood of tears this time, "-but she... she's not home...," he sobbed, lifting his hands up to his face again. "It's.. already eight..," he cried._

_Aoba felt like running away. Again. The voices inside his head were getting louder, each demanding he do a different thing, but he just wanted them to stop. To be quiet, to leave him alone and to stop making him feel so... alien. The familiar tightness around his heart returned as he cried, sobs shaking his body, and there was no getting out of this one or convincing Koujaku that he wasn't crying._

_"It's going to be okay!" Koujaku said, trying to sound cheerful. "I'm sure she's just busy at work. She'll be back, you'll see."_

_But Aoba kept crying. Koujaku rubbed the nape of his neck and chuckled nervously, not really sure what else to do. Hell, he never knew what to do whenever he saw Aoba crying. So he did the next best thing he could – he reached out and wrapped his arms around Aoba's small frame, pressed their bodies together as much as he could, and closed his eyes, brows slightly knitting together as he felt the younger boy's tears soak his kimono. But he didn't mind. It wasn't a big deal as long as it helped Aoba calm down and stop crying. Koujaku could feel his own heart thumping loudly in his chest and that familiar yet unknown feeling creep up inside of him, but he tried to push it down. Aoba was his friend, and he was a boy, so why was Koujaku feeling like this? He kept reminding himself to keep it together, that this feeling would pass, so he held on to Aoba until he felt the younger boy lift his arms up and wrap them around Koujaku in return._

_"That's it," Koujaku whispered, listening as Aoba's crying slowly stopped and the sobs were no longer shaking his body. "It's going to be alright, Aoba. I'm here," he assured him, rubbing circles on Aoba's small back with the palm of his hand._

_"O-okay... Koujaku...," Aoba mumbled, burying his face in the crook of the older boy's neck._

_He felt safe. Protected. Like no harm could come to him as long as he had Koujaku. Even the voices stopped screaming inside his head, and, perhaps for the first time in his short life, he felt... calm. At peace. And when Koujaku pulled away from the hug and smiled at him, it was then that Aoba knew one thing for certain – this boy was his hero. He always seemed to know when to come to the rescue and, even if he didn't use words, he still managed to make Aoba feel a whole lot better than he did before. He never wanted to lose Koujaku._

_"Come play with me until Tae-san gets home," Koujaku said, snapping Aoba out of his thoughts. He watched the older boy get up and extend his hand. "Here, hold my hand," he said._

_Aoba swallowed the lump in his throat and slipped his hand in Koujaku's firm but assuring hold, and let himself be pulled up off the ground and towards the other things the playground had to offer._

_"Don't give in, Aoba," Koujaku said, and Aoba looked up at him, wide-eyed and eyebrows raised up in surprise._

_Koujaku was so tall, so strong. Aoba couldn't help but stare at him in awe, and knew that he would never take those words for granted nor forget the way they made him feel at that moment. They moved something inside of him, made him feel more aware, the haze in his mind cleared and he could finally feel a bit better about the situation he was in. He was with Koujaku, so he was safe. And Granny may not have returned home yet, but Aoba believed Koujaku and was confident that his Granny would return, just as Koujaku had said she would._

_"Whenever you're feeling sad or lonely, don't give in. We need to be strong, Aoba," Koujaku continued, but his eyes were looking straight ahead, and there was a look on his face that Aoba couldn't quite figure out. It was definitely not a smile, that much he knew. "We need to be strong so we can protect Mom and Tae-san," he said, and finally looked down at Aoba._

_"Yeah...," Aoba mumbled, looking down for a moment as he thought about Koujaku's words._

_"Alright!" Koujaku said, suddenly sounding more energetic and, this time when Aoba looked at him, he was grinning widely. "Let's have a contest and see who can swing the highest on the swings! What do you say?" he suggested, in an obvious attempt to hype Aoba up too and distract his mind from his worries._

_But Aoba didn't say anything. He remained silent and stared up at Koujaku, and for a moment the older boy felt a chill run down his spine. He felt like those amber eyes could see right inside his soul, right down to the very core, and discover all of his secrets. Aoba was thinking something, but Koujaku wasn't sure what it was, and he would be lying if he said that kid's eyes didn't make him feel like a wise elder or something was staring him down._

_"What is it, Aoba?" he asked, trying to get the other boy to speak up if he had something on his mind. Which he clearly did, but was probably not sure how to put in words._

_Aoba mumbled something under his breath, then rubbed his eye and, finally, stared firmly up at Koujaku._

_"Koujaku, don't give in...," he started, voice strong, but broke off a bit at the end. It was as if he was embarrassed at how high he could actually raise his own voice. "... Don't give in, either..."_

_Koujaku's heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened. Aoba had just repeated the same words back to him, but Koujaku felt like a ton of weight had shifted and moved off his shoulders, even if just a tiny bit. Aoba seemed sincere when he said those words, not like he was just parroting them, and at that moment Koujaku realized that maybe, just maybe, there could be people who could love and care about him just as much as he did._

_"I won't, Aoba," Koujaku promised, grinning, and felt warm and giddy on the inside when he saw Aoba return that same smile. Yes, good. He was smiling. They were both smiling. "Now let's see who's better at swinging higher!" He suddenly exclaimed, let go of Aoba's hand and made a run for it towards the swings._

_"Yeah!" Aoba exclaimed, but then his eyes widened. "Oi, Koujaku! Wait up!" he called after the older boy, and they both drowned the night in their joyous laughter._

 

 

 

_**Oval Tower** _

_**Dungeons**_

_**Present Day** _

 

It's warm, it's warm and it tickles as it makes its way down Shiroba's body in small rivers of crimson red. Bite marks pepper his entire body, pleasure numbs his brain each time Koujaku moves inside of him, and he's lost in the ecstasy of the pain-pleasure mix from the biting and thrusting. Shiroba was high on that feeling, clinging on to that beautiful beast above him, legs wrapped tightly around Koujaku's waist, pulling him in impossibly closer to himself.

 

_**"Stop it."** _

_"Stop what?"_

_**"This. All of this. It isn't right!"** _

_"Oh? And who are you to judge?"_

_**"** **What are you talking about? Aren't we the same?** **"** _

_"Hah! Now you're trying to pull that on me? Too late, Aoba."_

_**"** **I..."** _

_"You know, Koujaku's been a really good boy today. He's using me like I'm some ragged doll, right now, as we speak. And it's... amazing! And he looks incredible while doing it. This is what he wanted, wasn't it? For 'Aoba' to accept him. So he got what he wanted. Everyone's happy."_

_" **I** **t's wrong!** **"**_

_"While you were too busy sitting here and regretting everything, I was out there giving him exactly what he wanted. Do you really think you can tell me what Koujaku really wants? Hah! Don't make me laugh, ' Aoba'."_

_**"You..."** _

_"Hm? Did you say something, or can I go back to my precious Koujaku?"_

_**"You are me, aren't you?"** _

_"What..."_

_**"** **You really are. I think... I think I understand now."** _

_"What are you..."_

_**"Y** **ou're part of me. I get it now. But if that's the case..."** _

_"Stay right where you are!"_

_" **I** **f t** **hat's the case, then you of all people should know how much this is hurting Koujaku! How much it's hurting you, too!** " _

_"Why, you little..."_

_Shiroba pulls him up. Aoba whimpers, but doesn't struggle. This isn't real. It's all in his head, he reminds himself. But Shiroba's in control now._

_"I've always wanted you to accept me! But why... why now...?"_

_Aoba reached out, hand touching Shiroba's face. He was crying, Aoba realized. This was his chance. He cupped Shiroba's face, feeling them both merge, if just for a moment._

_**"Koujaku."** _

 

 

"Kou... Kouja... ku...," Shiroba whimpers, but this time his voice is different. This time it's Aoba, and for a moment Koujaku's movements stutter and his growling stops. Their eyes meet and, with a weak movement, Shiroba reaches out to Koujaku.

 

But that moment doesn't last. Koujaku growls again and continues moving inside of Shiroba, who in turn clings on to Koujaku even tighter.

 

 

_"It's no use. He can't hear you anymore."_

_**"No. You were right. I was sitting on my ass, regretting everything, while you were out there doing all those horrible things. But I get it now. I'm not running away anymore. But now..."** _

_Aoba removed his hand and grabbed Shiroba's wrist gently, lifting his hand up and pressing the palm of it against that of his own hand._

_**"Together. We** **will** **get him back."** _

_"We... We'll save Koujaku."_

_**"Together."** _

_"Together."_

_**"I accept you."** _

 

 

"Aoba... Oh, God, _Aoba..._ "

 

"Koujaku..."

 

They clung to each other, and sobs shook Aoba's body while tears silently streamed down Koujaku's face. The older man was still staring in disbelief, wide-eyed, at his surroundings – black stone walls, splattered with blood stains. Long chains that were connected to the wall and the heavy cuffs that held his arms behind his back. Thick iron bars that prevented his escape, with a strikingly white hallway just beyond them, contrasting with the darkness of this damp, awful cell. And with his thin arms around his neck, frail yet still alive, clung a very familiar person, crying and refusing to let go.

 

"Don't give in," Aoba whispered again, and Koujaku's eyes finally managed to fully take in what they were seeing.

 

Aoba was bleeding. Badly. He was naked, too, and there were cuts and bites all over him, some fresh, others old, but they were all covered in blood nonetheless. So much that Koujaku had trouble figuring out which ones were actually bleeding and which ones weren't. And the worst part was the faint feeling of something hot near his lower half, and when he managed to cast a quick glance, his blood froze. _No. God, no. What am I doing to him?_ He couldn't even process why or how they got there before he felt Aoba move, pushing him backwards, enough so that he felt himself slide out, followed by a pained whimper on Aoba's part, after which he knelt, just like Koujaku. And he never loosened his grip around Koujaku's neck, not even for a moment, even if his entire body trembled and the sobs still raked through it. _Oh, God, what have I done? What have I done to him? Why is he bleeding so much? Why is he crying? Please, Aoba, please don't cry. God, please..._ Koujaku's mind and heart raced, and somewhere at the back of his mind he knew he was suppressing the answer. He was too afraid to admit it. He was too horrified to admit that he had been causing unspeakable pain to the one person he loved and treasured above all others.

 

"Koujaku...," Aoba whispered against his skin, the hold of his arms around Koujaku's neck loosening as Aoba's breathing got shallower with each passing second. "We're... back...," he barely whispered.

 

"Aoba?" Koujaku asked, fear lacing his voice. "Aoba! Hey, stay awake! Aoba!" he nearly shouted, almost spiraling into full-on panic. He wished he could grab the other man and shake him back to reality, but it was impossible due to his restraints. "Stay with me, Aoba. _Please_ ," he begged, pressing the side of his face to Aoba's hair.

 

A hum escaped Aoba's lips and Koujaku's heart skipped a beat. _That's it. Stay awake, dammit_ , he furiously thought, at the same time trying to keep himself from losing to the fear and confusion burning inside of him.

 

"I... I...," Aoba started, but closed his mouth again. He felt weak, beaten and bruised, and the loss of blood was starting to take its toll on him. Where Desire would have found that immensely pleasurable, Aoba found it agonizingly painful, and his consciousness slipped further and further under, despite Koujaku's desperate attempts to keep him awake.

 

**_Pull yourself together! Wake up!_ **

_I... can't..._

**_Don't give me that bullshit, Aoba. You can and you will!_ **

_For... for him..._

**_Yes, for him! For our precious Koujaku, remember? Come on, you can do this. Don't make me hijack you again._ **

_No..._

_**Then get up! You're not finished yet, Aoba.** _

 

Aoba slowly opened his eyes and a weary sigh escaped his lips. He realized he was still loosely clinging on to Koujaku, could feel the warmth radiating from his body, and for a moment he felt at peace. Just like old times. This warmth always gave him security, even if they were in a rather precarious situation right now.

 

"Aoba, please," Koujaku tried again, and Aoba could feel his ragged breathing against his neck. "Don't give in," he whispered, and suddenly something clicked.

 

Aoba's eyes slowly widened and, for a moment, he felt like the haze in his mind cleared. His body became more responsive to his commands and he was finally able to pry himself from Koujaku, to let the other man breathe too, and they finally looked each other in the eyes. _His eyes. They're his again_ , Aoba thought, choking on something between a sob and a laugh, and moved one hand to cover his own mouth as it twisted in a smile. Or, well, as much of a smile as it could be, given that his face was practically covered in blood, sweat and tears. _His hair, too. He's..._

 

"You're back," Aoba whispered, unable to take his eyes off Koujaku.

 

"I'm... back...," Koujaku echoed, clearly not believing it himself.

 

Aoba let out a sigh of relief and finally felt his own muscles relax, letting his head drop down against Koujaku's chest, as if it were made out of lead. He felt completely exhausted, both physically and mentally, from everything that's happened up until now. He was still angry at Desire for what he did, but at the same time he couldn't help but think that, in his own twisted way, Desire kept Koujaku safe from Toue. Maybe not from himself, but definitely from anyone who would have tried to put him down like a wild animal. That, and if Aoba's memory served him well, Toue avoided Desire like the plague every time he crossed paths with him, which basically granted him immunity. Yet Aoba still remembers all the people that Toue brought in to be "broken", all the minds that Desire had twisted and left a useless heap afterwards, and he knew that these people would probably never recover. But right now Aoba couldn't really bring himself to dwell so much on those thoughts, because what mattered at this very moment was the man standing in front of him, still shackled and barely recovered from the shock of regaining his senses just mere moments ago.

 

"And you... Aoba, you're not... white...," Koujaku murmured, red eyes taking in his changed appearance.

 

And, just like that, Aoba realized how naked he was compared to Koujaku, who at least still had his kimono on him, even if his chest was exposed. A blush rose to his cheeks and ears and he quickly looked down and away, trying to somewhat cover himself up with his hands. Koujaku looked like he realized how this must look, ogling Aoba like that, so he quickly caught himself and blushed, averting his gaze and blinking rapidly, staring at a dry stain of blood at the far end of the cell. A part of him wondered just how the hell it was so big, and thought about the possible ways it could have gotten there, none of which were very pleasant. But Aoba's standing here, alive. _Good to know that I didn't kill him or anything..._ , he thought, but his eyes never wavered from that one spot.

 

"I, uh...," Aoba stammered, frantically looking around as a vague memory of a white robe appeared in his mind. "We need to get out of here," he blurted out just as he saw the robe in question, half-torn and discarded on the ground a few feet away, as if it were just rags and not a piece of clothing.

 

But Koujaku remained like he was, looking away and not daring to move a single muscle or even acknowledge Aoba's presence. Aoba furrowed his brows in confusion and studied his face for a moment – he looked tense, worried, and... ashamed? A lump formed in the back of Aoba's throat and he felt a searing pain tear at his heart, but he could somewhat understand what Koujaku was going through. Hell, Aoba wasn't sure how he'd address the events of the past... year or so once they were out of here. If they got out of here. Aoba softly sighed and moved to get up, but instantly regretted it as a shockwave of pain ran through his entire body, starting mainly from his lower half and going all the way up to his brain. He hissed and then whimpered, falling back down on one knee, even going as far as needing to use his hands to hold himself up. From the corner of his eye he could see Koujaku's body flinch, as if he was fighting back the urge to rush forward and grab Aoba, but they both knew it would be impossible. He was still shackled, after all. It took him awhile, but Aoba finally managed to stand up on shaky legs, taking careful steps forward until he reached the discarded piece of clothing and quickly, clumsily, put it on his naked body. He could still feel the faint heat on his cheeks from blushing, but now that he had at least some layers of clothing on him he didn't feel as exposed as he did before. It was weird, considering all the times they've been naked in front of each other, but Aoba knew that _that_ ... was definitely __not_ _ something either of them wanted. At least not like that. He wondered what it could have been like if he hadn't failed while using Scrap on Koujaku. He would have saved his best friend, it's true, and then... he did promise he'd tell Koujaku _something_ that was related to the man, and it was true. Aoba had... _things_ he wanted to say. Now that he thought back on it, he was naïve, thinking that it would all go smoothly. _I should've thought harder. God dammit, I was an idiot!_ But suddenly a voice broke Aoba's train of thoughts, and he turned around to look at the source.

 

"Go without me," Koujaku spoke, but those were definitely _not_ the words Aoba was expecting to hear. "Get out of here, Aoba," he continued, now turning his head to look at the blue-haired boy right in the eyes. "You'd be better off," he insisted.

 

Aoba widened his eyes, slack-jawed, staring at Koujaku in disbelief. Was he hearing it right? Koujaku wanted to be left down here all alone? _Not on my watch, you goddamn hippo,_  he angrily thought, scowling and, despite his body screaming in protest as he moved, turned on his heel and stormed over to Koujaku, tears welling up in his eyes from both the physical pain and the ache in his heart after hearing those words come out of Koujaku's mouth. The latter's eyes widened in surprise, but before he could open that stupid mouth of his to speak again Aoba cupped Koujaku's face with both hands, forcing him to keep his red eyes trained on his amber ones.

 

"How many times have I told you to _stop_ putting words in my mouth?" he demanded, eyebrows furrowed together. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw, while at the same time he felt his eyes burn with unshed tears. "We're in this together, Koujaku. You and me," he insisted, amber eyes never leaving Koujaku's red ones.

 

A slight gasp escaped Koujaku's lips and even more tears silently rolled down his cheeks, yet he didn't seem to be too preoccupied by them right now. His full attention was on Aoba, and Aoba only, and he was all that mattered right now. He pressed his lips together and slightly furrowed his brows, a serious look on his face as he gave a firm nod.

 

"You're right," he finally breathed out, and Aoba's heart skipped a beat. "I'm sorry," he whispered, unable to keep eye contact, and looked down in shame. But Aoba's tight grip on him didn't waver, and he found himself staring Aoba in the eyes once more.

 

"Now... We need to get out of here," he said, and for a moment they both stood like that. It was as if something in the air hung heavy between them, an unseen force pulling them together, but they both fought against it.

 

 _Would it be okay to do it now?_ Aoba thought, and for a second he felt like he was dissociating, but then quickly regained his senses. In Koujaku's eyes he saw that same questioning look, and he knew they were both yearning for the same thing. _Not now, though... We're in a dangerous place, and we need to leave_ , Aoba furiously thought, but found that his body betrayed him as he inched his face closer to Koujaku's, and found that the other man was doing the same, albeit more hesitantly than Aoba himself. Their breaths were almost mixing together, their hearts were racing and their faces were close, oh so close, but neither would dare make the next move. But he couldn't. _Not now. Not like this._ And Koujaku seemed to realize it, too. And he seemed to know what the next closest thing would be, so he bowed his head down enough for Aoba's lips to press against his forehead. Both of them furrowed their brows and closed their eyes, as if trying to draw this out as long as they possibly could.  _We... We can't bounce back from this as easily as we think_ , Aoba realized, and a sharp pain tore at his heart as he finally pulled away and ran his fingers through Koujaku's hair one last time before he slowly got up and went around Koujaku to examine his shackles.

 

"I think I can undo them," he said, sounding surprised. And he was. He genuinely was. Did Desire think this would be enough? _I mean, he was right, but still... This is just too easy!_ Aoba slowly reached out and proceeded to tinker with the mechanism of the shackles until they finally came loose. "There... I think?"

 

Koujaku tried moving his hands and realized that, for the first time in a long time, he could actually _move_ them. Not just shift them slightly, but actually _move them_ , and he took it upon himself to try freeing his hands as fast as he could. Aoba chuckled, a bit nervous, but also sounding relieved to have all of this finally end. _I'm free. We're free_ , he thought as he heard the heavy shackles fall to the floor with a loud _clang_ , and brought his hands in front of him, examining them. There were bruises around his wrists from the many times he's struggled, his claws were still sharp but at least they were not freakishly long anymore, and when he touched and looked at his hair, it was... black. _Like before._ A warmth spread in his chest and a smile tugged at his lips. It hurt, his face and entire body hurt, but it was okay, this was okay, because they were both normal again and everything would be fine. When Koujaku finally looked up he saw that Aoba had moved around him and was now kneeling in front of him again, a relieved grin on his face. Koujaku grinned as well, and a laugh escaped him unexpectedly. Aoba seemingly couldn't hold himself back either, and they both just sat there, laughing and crying at the same time, the thought of finally being themselves and _free_ finally fully washing over them.

 

"We may still be locked down here, but for now... We're free," Koujaku finally said, and Aoba responded with a hum and a warm smile.

 

" _System failure_ ," a voice sounded from outside - or, well, upstairs, - and both Koujaku and Aoba looked in that direction, wide-eyed. " _Critical system failure. Virus detected. Unable to remove. Evacuation imminent,_ " it kept on, and a cold dread washed over both men.

 

A faint explosion sounded from upstairs and tiny chunks of the black rock on the ceilings started falling off. Koujaku, running on his sole instinct to protect his best friend, grabbed Aoba by the arm and hauled both of them up and off the ground, forcing his own two legs to keep him up as they stumbled over to the iron bars. Aoba, acting on memory, quickly pressed the heavy door open and, this time, he pushed Koujaku's hand off of him and, instead, forced Koujaku's hand in his own. They both looked at each other for a moment, and it was as if a secret understanding passed between them.

 

 _Let me be your hero this one time, Koujaku_ , Aoba had thought, even if he was aware that they both might end up dying in the next few minutes.

 

 _I trust you,_ Koujaku thought, nodding his head. _Lead the way, Aoba._

 

Together, holding hands, Aoba led them up the stairs and into what used to be a blindingly white hallway, now dyed red from the emergency lights that were illuminating the place. The main power source must have gone out, so the emergency lights automatically came on. Aoba breathed shallowly, rapidly, but his mind was clear, and he kept leading Koujaku forward, through the panicking crowd that seemed to pay them no mind, and then down the stairs.

 

**_Aoba._ **

 

They kept running.

 

_**Aoba!**_

 

_What?_

 

_**You forgot Sei.** _


	8. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They take the first step of their plan.

 

_**Old Residential District** _

_**Western District (four days earlier)** _

_**07:34 AM** _

 

"Well... Here we are," Noiz said, leaning back against the wall of one of the buildings. They were hidden in one of the side alleys, hoping to ambush the Alpha robot as it came walking down this very street.

 

"I'm so nervous...!" Clear whispered, somewhat dramatically, as he anxiously shifted his weight from one foot to the next.

 

"Stop that," Noiz snapped, but it didn't hold any malice. He was just getting irritated by it and, in turn, anxious.

 

"S-sorry, Noiz-san!" Clear stammered and forced himself to stay put. He placed a hand on his masked face and sighed, trying to clear his head. "I can't help it, though...," he mumbled and, in an attempt to calm down, tried mimicking Noiz.

 

 _We've been waiting for an entire hour!_ Clear's mind raced as he fiddled with the collar of his trench coat. _They will definitely recognize us. What if I'm not fast enough and Noiz-san falls under the effects of Dye Music again? I don't know if it'll be as easy to pull him out for a second time..._ He really needed to take a deep breath and try to relax. Yes, he was definitely worried about Noiz's safety, more than his own, but he vowed that he'd do anything that was in his power to prevent his Alpha brother from inflicting any further damage on someone Clear considered a good friend. _With pretty eyes. And a cute nose. And a handsome face. And-_ Clear's train of thought was cut short the moment he felt Noiz pat his chest with the back of his hand, as if to alert him to something.

 

"He's here," was all Noiz said, and Clear's mind instantly went haywire. "Like we planned."

 

"Like we planned," Clear eagerly echoed, but they both made sure to keep their voices to a whisper.

 

They observed the Alpha unit as it walked the streets, that creepy mask making Clear feel a bit uneasy as he looked at it. He watched as his brother took in his surroundings – the mindless people going out and about to do whatever they had planned for that day – before he headed for the middle of the street, stopped and just... stood there.

 

"He's turned away," Noiz murmured, squinting his eyes as he spoke. Clear could see that they were looking for the best vantage point from which they could blindside the Alpha. "You can fight against them without a problem, right?" he asked, casting a quick glace back at him.

 

"Y-yeah!" Clear stuttered, eyes wide. "I won't break down like last time," he assured him, but after a short silence he pursed his lips and swallowed past a small lump in his throat. "But I'd risk non-functionality for Noiz-san," he finally said, and furiously tried to ignore the blush that crept up his cheeks when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Noiz turn his head to look at him again.

 

 _It's not a lie. But what if he takes it the wrong way?_ Clear's mind raced once more, and when he turned to look back at Noiz – even if he had his gas mask on and doubted the other man could see his eyes – he still stood like that. There was something in Noiz's eyes, and it looked like different emotions coursed through him, yet he did his best to keep that unexpressive mask on _his_ _handsome face, it's really handsome, oh my-_

 

 

"Don't get too excited," Noiz finally said, once more snapping Clear out of his thoughts. "It was hard enough fixing you the first time," he reminded him, but Clear knew better than to take that as a sign of irritation or anything of the sort.

 

 

 _He's worried about me. Of course he'd try to hide it_ , Clear thought as he awaited further instructions. Noiz furrowed his brow, then nodded his head in the direction of a convenience store that was to the left of the Alpha unit.

 

"Understood," Clear whispered and, without even making a sound, made sure to stick to the edge of the crowd and stay out of his brother's sight as he went around him. _I doubt he'd be that stupid, but this is better than nothing._

 

When Clear finally stopped near the convenience store, his eyes widened. He saw the Alpha unit spread out his arms, tilt his head back and, even though he was wearing a mask, Clear knew all too well what that meant. _Noiz-san!_ Would he remember to plug his ears? Noiz did say he had managed to create earplugs that would do a good job at blocking out the song, but it would be at the cost of him not being able to hear anything at all. But he didn't have time to think about that now. He needed to distract his brother for as long as he could, draw him in and lead him to the destination both him and Noiz had agreed on – right near the Main Street, where the road broke off and led to a rather dark alley behind the many buildings that otherwise littered the street itself. Clear squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and, finally, removed his mask. His footsteps felt heavy, his muscles were tensed up, but he kept walking nonetheless, repeating to himself that this was all for Aoba-san and Koujaku-san. That he needed to do this, to take this first step in his and Noiz's plan, in order to save his friends and the citizens of Midorijima. The closer he got, the more it dawned on him that the Alpha robot was, in fact, not singing. At all. He looked like he was frozen in place, staring up at the sky, the creepy smile on his mask making the entire scene even more eerie and overall strange.

 

"Brother," the Alpha spoke and Clear froze, eyes wide, a lump in his throat. "I knew you'd come, eventually," he said, looking at Clear, who was frozen in place and staring at his twin brother.

 

"I'm not here to fight you," Clear blurted out, and thanked whatever deity or force there was out there that he managed to keep his own voice from cracking as he spoke. _I'm terrified._ "I'm here to be brought back to Toue" he stated, silently thanking himself for growing a damn backbone and actually sounding more neutral and convincing this time around. "I... realize that I'm broken. So... I want to be... _fixed_ ," he explained, never taking his eyes off his Alpha brother.

 

The Alpha robot stared at him for awhile. Clear felt a tad bit uneasy since he couldn't really see the other man's face. _What is he thinking? Does he believe me? Ah, man, Noiz-san will be really upset if I don't do this right!_ But then the unexpected happened. The Alpha approached him and slid his own mask off, revealing a small smirk on that identical face, eyes studying Clear with curiosity more than distrust or malice.

 

"Does our brother know of this?" he asked, and Clear suppressed the urge to all out express his panic by going wide-eyed and staring at his brother like an idiot.

 

"Yes, he does," Clear said, still surprised at himself for sounding so calm, and slightly furrowed his brows when he saw the slightest hint of suspicion cross his brother's eyes. "He's waiting for us at Main Street, actually," Clear added, placing his hands in his pockets and never, not even once, letting his gaze stray from his brother's cold eyes.

 

"Take me to him, then," the Alpha finally said, and Clear felt like a huge weight was just lifted off his shoulders.

 

 _Alright. That's step one. Step two is... Wait, did Noiz-san prepare everything yet? Did I rush this?_ Clear tried to relax so he could think clearly and just nodded his head, gesturing for his brother to lead the way. This was the only chance they'd get, and if they failed, well... then Clear would _definitely_ be taken back to Toue, that is if his brothers didn't decide to kill him on the spot. And Noiz? He'd just be put under the effects of Dye Music again. Clear knew his brothers, and he knew they wouldn't bother with a "worthless human" enough to engage him in a fight or anything. _They thought Aoba-san was worthless, too. But they were wrong , Clear thought, clenching his fists inside his coat's pockets. I will keep you safe, Noiz-san. Even if you can handle yourself well in a fight, I will still protect you_ , Clear promised, but knew that no one could really hear him. Still, it was enough to keep him going, enough to give him incentive to fight against his brothers for a second time, and enough to motivate him to see this mission through. For the sake of his friends and for the sake of Midorijima itself. As they walked down the relatively busy streets, Clear couldn't help but wonder, _how is Noiz-san's work coming along right now?_

 

 

_**Main Street** _

_ **07:50 AM** _

 

Noiz muttered something under his breath as he finally managed to connect the two cables together. He quickly turned to his Coil monitor and tapped at the rectangular button that read _" Initiate "_ , after which he just had to wait a few seconds until the transaction was completed. Once the Coil beeped in confirmation, Noiz shut off the interface and picked up one of his Allmates from the chain that hung from his belt, examining it before he tossed it in the air and watched it as it exclaimed P! in a high-pitched tone before floating over to its designed destination across the street. Noiz looked down at the chains that hung from his belt and sighed, noting that the left one was left completely bare due to the need to have as many Allmates as possible hiding in the most critical points of the ambush site. He had managed to modify them, as quickly as he could, to give them the ability to "sing" Clear's song. Or, well, mimic it.

 

_"When I sang my song at full capacity I managed to override their functions and... kill them...," Clear had told him earlier this morning while they were getting ready._

 

_"Oh?" Noiz was intrigued by that. It was true that his brothers sang a horrifyingly twisted version of Clear's calming song, but to hear that Clear had managed to render them non-functional just by singing it a bit louder... "Do you think it could be applied to my Allmates ?" he asked, holding up one of his rabbit cubes._

 

_"Applied?" Clear echoed, confused for a moment. "Oh! You mean like a recording?" he then asked, brows raised as a smile tugged at his lips and he leaned his body forward a bit. He was seated cross-legged like a child on the bed, and for a moment Noiz thought he looked ridiculous (ly cute). "I guess it could work. I'd have to sing the song again, and you'd have to record it on your Allmate. But... What are you planning to do with it?" he asked, a bit weary._

 

_"I want to see if I can replicate the capacity you sang at back on that rooftop," Noiz started explaining as he placed the rabbit cube back on the chain hanging from his belt. "Or at least something close to it. That way we could render that Alpha asshole useless," he speculated, his eyes never leaving Clear._

 

_The white-haired man remained silent for a few moments, thinking over the different possible outcomes this could have. Either it would work out according to their plan and they'd have a non-functional Alpha on their hands, or it could backfire and, well... the rest didn't need an explanation. Noiz thought back on the entire week, on how his recovery was one hell of a rollercoaster, and how he was surprised Clear dealt with it without complaining. Not even once. Noiz may have been in and out of it, but he clearly remembers hearing Clear frantically call out his name and, on the occasions when Noiz would either sleep peacefully or eat his food, the other man would sit on a chair beside his bed and talk about different things, perhaps in an attempt to keep Noiz's mind off of things and focus on something more pleasant. At first Noiz thought it was annoying, but as the hours turned to days he came to realize he enjoyed listening to Clear speak. His voice was really soothing, so much that Noiz was surprised at himself when he realized he had moments where he'd crave to hear it one more time, even if at that moment Clear was sleeping or was busy with whatever the hell he went out to do every day, somewhere at the edge of the Northern District._

 

_"It could work, but it would overload if you only used it on one Usagimodoki," Clear finally said, bringing Noiz back to the present._

 

_"Then I'll divide it equally between all of them," Noiz said without missing a beat._

 

Noiz snapped out of that memory and mentally kicked himself for being so distracted, thinking about their talk at a critical moment like this. He checked his Coil and confirmed the positions of all his Allmates before closing it again and looking up at the windows on the building walls. They really kept this alley dark, despite it being day. But, then again, this was the Western District, so he guessed the light would take its time getting here. So he hid in the shadows and waited, keeping a finger hovering over his Coil, ready to give out the order for them to sing their song the moment the Alpha twin stepped into the clearing. He was confident in his skills with electronics, hacking and whatnot, but there were still a lot of ways this could go sideways and end horribly for both him and Clear. _But I'm not going down without a fight. Tae-san's still recovering. If this fails, I'm not letting them take Clear_ , he thought as he crouched down, eyes fixed on the ambush spot, thankful that it was so quiet at this time. Either the people here worked at a later hour or they just liked sleeping in, Noiz didn't know, but he was damn grateful there was seemingly no one to disturb this operation.

 

"Come on," Noiz muttered after awhile, realizing that this was taking too long. "Don't screw this up, robo boy."

 

And, as if answering his call, two familiar figures came in sight. They walked down the street, with one of them just a step back from the other, and for a moment Noiz was frozen in place. _They... really look identical_ , he thought, taken aback. _Clear did say they were his twin brothers, though_ , another part of his brain reminded him, and Noiz finally managed to snap out of his stupor. Clear is different, he reminded himself. He has two freckles under his bottom lip, he reminded himself. His eyes radiate innocence and naïveté, he recalled. They held no coldness, no malice like the eyes of the Alpha robot. _Just a little bit more. That's it_ , he thought, narrowing his eyes as he flicked the Coil screen on and prepared to issue the order.

 

"Dear brother," the Alpha spoke, and Noiz's blood ran cold when he heard that dreaded voice. _I very much prefer Clear's voice, thank you very much._ "Where is our twin?" he asked as they both stopped at the marked spot, swirling around on his heel and staring daggers at Clear, demanding an answer.

 

"He... He's...," Clear stuttered, and for a moment Noiz thought this was it. But then Clear seemed to snap out of it, take his hands out of his pockets and ball them into fists, scowling at his twin brother and bearing his teeth angrily. "You're never hurting anyone again!" he shouted, and that's when Noiz pressed the button on his Coil.

 

The song rang forth. It wasn't as good as Clear's, but it was still loud enough for the Alpha to start twitching and clawing at his ears, growling incoherently at Clear as he slowly fell to his knees. It was all odd, really. Like he was listening to Clear's song with a surround effect, and even if it sounded a bit off, he still found himself enjoying it. Hell, if it brought that Alpha bastard down, then he'd gladly toss his Allmates all over Midorijima and have them blast that song full volume to everyone within earshot if it meant it would clear their heads and help them finally regain control of both their minds and bodies. Thing is, they were on a time limit. Clear had warned him how sensitive they were to sounds, and it was a matter of minutes before the other Alpha arrived, so they had to act quickly. Originally they had planned on doing this the quiet way, but after Clear had explained how he would most likely be unable to bring Noiz back if he fell under again, they decided to go about this the hard and loud way. At some point Noiz must have zoned out again, hearing Clear's words repeating in his head, but when he finally zeroed in on Clear waving his arms and shouting something at him Noiz finally tapped his Coil again and the music stopped.

 

"Noiz-san, we need to hurry!" Clear exclaimed as he quickly bent down to pick up his now non-functional brother and rush him over to the back alley.

 

Noiz clicked another button on his Coil and all of the rabbit cubes came flying back to him, attaching themselves to the chains on his belt accordingly. Then he turned around and proceeded to help Clear strip the Alpha clean from his clothes, after which they made a run for it.

 

"Noiz-san!" Clear called out again, reaching out to Noiz in an attempt to stop him. When he finally did, Clear handed him the Alpha's clothes and then turned around, crouching down slightly and holding his arms back. "Hop on! It'll be faster this way!"  
  
  
"A piggyback? Seriously?" Noiz asked, incredulous, but when Clear shot him a rather annoyed look he quickly obliged and did as he was told. "Now hold on tight," Clear warned him and Noiz wrapped his arms around Clear's neck, pressing the clothes between his chest and Clear's back.

 

He thought he's seen it all, but nothing could really prepare him for the way his stomach dropped and his head spun the moment Clear jumped off the ground and flew through the air, landing perfectly on the nearest roof he could get to. Noiz was left speechless, really, and just held on tight as he tried to ignore the funny feeling in his stomach and the dizziness in his head as he felt Clear jump from roof to roof, without missing a beat, without slipping on anything, as if an invisible force carried him. _He can actually do this? And he was supposed to be designed like a normal human? Yeah, and I'm the goddamn Space Pirate_ , he mockingly thought, closing his eyes and trying to keep his grip from loosening as Clear carried them both through the air.

 

"We're almost there, Noiz-san," he vaguely heard Clear say, and just hummed in response.

 

When they finally arrived and Noiz jumped off Clear's back he realized his legs felt kind of numb. He was a bit confused, but let it slide nonetheless, figuring this whole thing was something similar to a rollercoaster. You did get that funny feeling all over your body after getting on one of those, right?

 

"Are you okay, Noiz-san?" Clear asked him after he had turned around to face him. Noiz gave him the Alpha's clothes, along with the mask, and nodded his head at the question. "Oh, thank goodness," he breathed out in relief, and Noiz saw the smile spread on the white-haired man's face again. "I'm sorry if I scared you. But we needed to hurry," he then apologized and looked down, a bit shy.

 

 _What for, though?  He did a good job back there, even if it was from left field_ , he thought, a bit confused. So he reached out and patted Clear on the shoulder, hoping to get the message across.

 

"I'm good," he assured him, and Clear looked at Noiz again, wide-eyed and smiling faintly. _Wait, he's blushing now? God_ , Noiz thought, suppressing a sigh. "Now go get dressed. We need to get to Platinum Jail as soon as possible," he reminded him, and Clear suddenly perked up.

 

"Yeah!" he agreed, and quickly sprinted inside the house.

 

 _Shut up_ , Noiz thought, pushing down that weird, ticklish feeling at the pit of his stomach as he thought about Clear's shyness and his smiling face. _Focus_ , he reminded himself, and walked in after Clear. _Check on Tae-san, too_ , he reminded himself, and slowly made his way up the stairs to her room. It was over for now. They could rest, recharge, and head back out in the afternoon. Yeah, everything would be fine. _Hopefully._


	9. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They stop and take a breather.

 

_"You should never have been born," a woman's cold voice pierced the darkness._

 

_"We'd be better off without you," a man chimed in, his tone harsh._

 

_"Disgrace."_

 

_"Shameful."_

 

_"Pathetic."_

 

_"Abnormal."_

 

_"Weird."_

 

_"Alien."_

 

_"Useless."_

 

_"Worthless."_

 

_He curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth in the corner. This isn't real, he reminded himself. This was all inside his head. But the voices kept getting louder and louder, and he couldn't block them out, and soon felt like he was drowning in them, desperately trying to keep his head up and not fall under._

 

_"_ _Noiz-san?"_

 

_That voice. Could it be... no. No way._

 

_"Noiz-san, can you hear me?"_

 

_Go away. You're not real._

 

_"Noiz-san..."_

 

_Leave me alone!_

 

 

 

_ **Northern District** _

_ **Clear's House** _

_ **14:30 PM** _

 

He jolted awake, but didn't move any more than that. His eyes were wide, flickering around the room, but otherwise his body remained immobile. There was a song drifting through the room, soothing and gentle, and for a moment the noise inside his head disappeared. _That's the song. About the jellyfish and their dreams._ Noiz blinked a couple of times as his mind slowly registered his current situation and his surroundings – this was Clear's grandpa's bed, and Noiz was laid out face-first on it. Second, he was in Clear's house. Third, Clear was singing to him. _He always does that whenever I feel bad or have a nightmare. But how does he even know?_ Noiz sighed and stretched out his limbs, the movement catching Clear's attention and making the other man turn around to look at him.

 

"Ah, Noiz-san!" He looked really flustered. _And with the sun on his face like that, he looks cute, too._ "You're awake! Are you... okay?" he mumbled, a bit unsure whether or not it was okay to ask.

 

Noiz caught himself before he could think or do anything stupid. _Cute? God, Noiz, when did you get so goddamn soft?_ His mind reeled, but he tried to ignore those thoughts. His green eyes focused on Clear, taking in his appearance – his white dress shirt, with a few buttons undone, his gloves and the rest still on, with the gas mask laid out on the bed beside him.

 

"I'm good," Noiz said, slowly turning over and sitting up, rubbing one eye with his hand and yawning. "Did I... fall asleep?" he asked, but he already knew the answer.

 

What he didn't know was _how the fuck that happened._

 

"Oh, well,-" Clear started, brows raised a bit, "-you were working pretty hard, Noiz-san. But with all that's happened so far, and with what you've gone through, it's normal for your body to shut down so easily," he explained.

 

_What the fuck._

 

"I guess there's a first time for everything, huh?" Noiz chuckled and smirked, looking at Clear. But the other man's reaction was definitely _not_ the one he expected. _Definitely not a blush like that!_

 

Clear was, indeed, blushing. _That's cute_ , Noiz thought before he could stop himself. Clear mumbled something about finding some apples and quickly turned around, reaching out to the bedside table and grabbing a plate that was sitting on it.

 

"I, um..," Clear stammered, trying to keep his composure. Noiz just looked at him, torn between finding the whole thing cute and, at the same time, a bit confusing. "I sliced some apples. Thought you might.. need some food...," he mumbled, handing over the plate to Noiz, who took it and looked down at the slices.

 

"Bunny-shaped?" He raised a brow, a smirk on his face and a chuckle escaping his lips. He looked up at Clear again, who was now blushing even more.

 

"Oh! Y-yeah, um...," Clear scratched the back of his head nervously. "I noticed you really like rabbits, so I thought-"

 

"Thanks," Noiz said, never looking away from Clear.

 

"Huh?" Clear mumbled, dumbfounded.

 

"For the apples," Noiz clarified, catching himself mentally before he could think something like Clear being _too goddamn cute when he's shy, dammit_. "I guess I have been neglecting myself for a long while," he murmured as he grabbed a slice and nibbled on it.

 

Clear grinned widely, his nose and eyes crinkling, and chuckled. _Fuck. Focus on the apples_ , Noiz reminded himself.

 

"You're welcome, Noiz-san," Clear said, sincere, and for a moment Noiz found it a bit hard to swallow. _Why is my heart acting up like this?_ "Ah, by the way... Granny said she's feeling better now, but convincing her to stay in bed has been a bit of a problem," he awkwardly said, scratching the back of his head with a nervous smile.

 

"That's good," Noiz said after he'd finished eating his third slice of apple. "How are the Allmates doing?" he asked, suddenly remembering that they were here too. _Especially that nagging red sparrow._

 

"Beni went outside to cool off a bit," Clear explained, looking at the window near the bed he was currently seated on. "He got... anxious about Koujaku-san and Aoba-san. He said he'd storm Oval Tower himself if we didn't, as he put it, " _move our asses_ "," he said, a light blush creeping up his cheeks once more at those last three words.

 

Noiz snorted and shook his head, looking down at his plate for a moment. "Sounds like him," he said, looking back up at Clear. "We'll get them back. We have to," he then said, this time sounding a bit more serious.

 

Clear's expression quickly changed to a more serious one, mirroring Noiz's, and he nodded his head. "I agree," he said, all traces of that previous shyness gone. Noiz's breath got stuck in his throat for a moment at the drastic change. Then Clear's expression suddenly changed to a thoughtful one, and he leaned back, looking up and furrowing his brows.

 

"What is it?" Noiz asked, scooting across the bed to sit beside Clear, half-empty plate still in hand.

 

"Oh! N-nothing...," Clear snapped out of his trance, then turned his head to look at Noiz. _Oh, no. Not the intense gaze. Please,_ Clear thought, but made sure his face would _not_ betray how fast his thoughts were racing through his head or how his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. "I was just... thinking about Aoba-san and Koujaku-san. About how... how we'd get them out," he finally mumbled, and it was true.

 

_Okay, half-true._

 

But Clear hadn't been able to think straight for the last few days, especially after he rescued Noiz. He kept going out to the edges of the Northern District, claiming it was to check if there were any changes in the other two districts, but that was only half the truth. The other half was that, well... he thought about Noiz. Like, a _lot_.

 

"Hey, Earth to Clear," Noiz snapped his fingers in Clear's face, drawing him back to reality. "We'll get them back," he stated, sounding so sure of himself that, for a moment, Clear felt like they could do anything.

 

So he smiled and nodded his head, a warmness pooling in his chest when he saw Noiz's lips draw into a small smile of their own.

 

"Good," Noiz said, then placed the plate in Clear's hands, tapped him on the thigh – which made Clear visibly jump in surprise – before he got up and started making his way to the stairs. "I'm going to check on Tae-san," was all he said before he disappeared upstairs.

 

Clear released a breath he didn't realize he was holding in, and felt a bit lightheaded for a few seconds. _That was... uhm..._ , he thought, unsure how to properly name it. Noiz was attractive, yes, but did Clear really feel more for him than he had initially thought? Looking down at the plate, he saw that Noiz had left him four bunny-shaped apple slices. _For me? But I... I made them for him_ , he thought, for a moment not realizing that this was out of character for the other man to do. As far as Clear knew the Noiz from before would have been reluctant to share things, but the Noiz that was here with him now was... different. _Aoba did use Scrap on him_ , Clear reminded himself, and maybe that did play a big role in shaping Noiz's personality from that day forward. Especially the day that Clear woke up to find that Noiz had been working on fixing him all this time, his face tense as he typed away at his keyboard and rearranged the holographic screens around him.

 

 

 

_ **Platinum Jail** _

_ **Glitter**_

_**1 year ago** _

 

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Click. Tap. Tap. Click. Tap._

 

 _Clear's eyes slowly slid open, lids heavy, and tried to focus his vision._ _But something was... off. The more he blinked, the more his vision cleared, but half of it was still dark. The room was dark, too, but that was not it. It took him awhile to remember the events that brought him here, and he suddenly felt a light pain on the right side of his face. Oh, the eye. That's right, he had plunged his own knife in his head, breaking the module in his head that prevented him from attacking his brothers, after which he sang a powerful version of his song in order to render them helpless and unable to fight. It was all for Master, he reminded himself. All so that his Master would be safe._

 

_"I don't know, Koujaku...," a familiar yet faint voice came from outside the room._

 

_Master. He was downstairs, from what Clear could gather in his current state. "What if he doesn't wake up?"_

 

**_But I'm awake, Master. I'm fine._ **

 

_"He'll be alright, Aoba," came Koujaku's voice, and for a moment right after those words, Clear felt like he was intruding on a personal moment between them._

 

_"I hope so," was Aoba's only answer, and something in Clear's chest felt like it skipped a beat._

 

 _Master's voice... was muffled at the end. Were they hugging? Was that why Clear felt as if he was intruding, even if he was in lying in this dark room,_ _with the only sound coming from_ _someone tap_ _ping_ _away on a keyboard next to his bed?_

 

_"I need to go and gather a bit more information," came Koujaku's voice again, this time a bit more tense._

 

_Aoba's voice didn't follow, and Clear was confused, but couldn't dwell on it too much when the light-headedness suddenly returned in full force._

 

_"You're awake," someone spoke up beside him, startling him out of his daze momentarily._

 

_Noiz? Was that him?_

 

 _The_ _mattress sunk a bit and Clear moved his only functional eye to look at the person in question and confirm that it was Noiz and nobody else._

 

_"Noiz.... Noiz-san...?" he asked, startled at how weak his voice sounded._

 

_"It's me," Noiz confirmed, reaching down and tapping a few buttons on the keyboard again before he finally turned his full attention on Clear. "Can you sit up?" he asked, green eyes studying him in the semi-darkness._

 

_Clear furrowed his brow and tried moving his limbs, only to find out that they felt heavy and almost made it impossible to move them around easily._

 

_"Here," Noiz said, and when Clear looked up at him his eye widened, realizing how close their faces were at that moment. One of Noiz's hands gripped Clear's arm gently, while the other came around behind his shoulder and gently pushed. "Good," he said when he saw Clear slowly sitting up._

 

_There was pain, but it wasn't as much as Clear thought it would be. He felt sore, but that was normal when you take into consideration the way he nearly killed himself not that long ago. Or was it long ago? He's not sure how long he's been out, so he makes a mental note to ask Noiz about it later._

 

 _"Your systems are fine, but there's still some significant damage to the right area of your head and around your eye," Noiz started explaining, pulling up a screen on his Coil that seemed to show a summed up version of Clear's current statistics. "Your entire left half_ _was paralyzed for awhile back there," he said, gesturing to the area in question._

 

_"My... left half?" Clear echoed questioningly, looking down at his own body and finally taking in the sight._

 

 _He had bandages wrapped around his chest and entire left arm, with some going around his right shoulder since there were chunks of skin missing there as well._ _Noiz was right, though. Clear could barely move his left arm, and it was honestly really hard to fully focus on the other man's face with just one functional eye._

 

 _"It'll stabilize in a bit, though. I'm running a program right now, and my Allmates are helping out, too," Noiz assured him, vaguely pointing at the many holographic screens and keyboards that were hovering over the_ _cube_ _-shaped_ _bunny_ _Allmates._

 

_A faint smile tugged at Clear's lips and he looked back at Noiz, realizing that the other man still had one hand around Clear's arm and another on his back. Heat rose to Clear's cheeks and he tilted his head down, trying to hide it. He thought back on that roof, the fear in Aoba's face when the Alphas started singing their song, the way he tried to reach out to Clear, and then... Well, he did what was needed in order to protect his Master, and he'd do it a thousand times over if it meant Aoba would be safe and sound._

 

 _"_ _Is... Aoba-san alright?" he shyly asked, still looking down._

 

_"He's downstairs, waiting for news. He's safe," Noiz assured him, and Clear let out a soft sigh of relief._

 

_"Good... Good," he nodded his head and looked up at Noiz again, smiling. "And everyone else?" he asked, slightly furrowing his brows in worry. "Are they safe?" he asked, again, this time worry lacing his voice more._

 

_"They're good. Although I don't know where Mink went off to," Noiz said, shrugging at the mention of Mink. The two really didn't get along anyway, so Noiz seemed to pay him little to no mind. "Everyone's fine, yeah," he assured him again._

 

_"And you?" Clear suddenly asked, taking Noiz by surprise._

 

_"Me?" he asked, clearly dumbfounded._

 

_Clear nodded his head and waited for an answer. Yes, Noiz was sitting right in front of him, but Clear needed to make sure that this was all real, that the man who had managed to fix him was alright, since he knew all too well how long maintenance on someone like himself can take if you don't have the right tools at your disposal, how straining and tiring it can be.  
_

 

_"I'm fine," Noiz finally mumbled, never breaking eye contact, even if he did look a bit confused._

 

_And kind of... relieved? Happy? Clear couldn't quite figure it out, but he didn't really have much time to dwell on it as he reached out and grabbed Noiz's hand with his still barely-functional one, after which he brought it up to his own chest, right over where the heart was supposed to be._

 

_"Am I... real?" His voice was quieter now, and Noiz was left speechless, with his hand on Clear's chest like that. "Do I have a heart?" he asked._

 

_Noiz remained silent, eyes wide as he stared back at Clear. For a moment Clear thought that this was it, this was where the illusion ended, that he'd wake up on that cold roof and see that his brothers have taken his Master away, that it was all a lie and that he failed to save his friends, that-_

 

 _"You do," Noiz finally spoke, his voice sincere_ _and a serious look on his face. "You have a heart, here," he said, and lifted Clear's other hand up, placing it on Noiz's chest. "Like this."_

 

 _A gasp escaped Clear's lips_ _as he felt the soft thumping of Noiz's heart underneath the palm of his own hand. For a brief moment he wondered what Noiz felt, but another look at the other man's face showed him that he was not lying when he said Clear had a heart._

 

_"If anything... You're more real than me," Noiz mumbled under his breath, and Clear almost didn't catch it._

 

_It sounded like he was talking to himself, and Clear had managed to listen in on it and hear everything. So he didn't respond, he just looked at the blonde man, trying to figure out what he meant by that._

 

 _"_ _I need to go tell Aoba," Noiz finally spoke first, breaking whatever power was keeping them close like this, and for a moment Clear felt..._ _empty_ _._

 

**_No, please. Stay._ **

 

 _He watched as Noiz pulled away and got up, walking over to the door and stopping in front of it for a few moments. Clear took that time to study him –_ _his lean yet muscular figure, the piercings on the nape of his neck, the way he moved with less strain than he did before... But when Noiz suddenly turned around to face him again Clear quickly snapped out of his thoughts._

 

 _"_ _You owe me one," he said, but there was no serious note in his voice._

 

 _He was smiling,_ _but it was not malicious._ _It was playful, more than anything, actually. So..._ _d_ _id he really mean it?_

 

 

**_P_ _resent Day_ **

**_Clear's House_ **

**_14:59 PM_ **

 

 _I have a heart_ , Clear thought, placing one hand over his heart and slightly furrowing his brows. _And I guess we're even now._ Clear chuckled at that thought, then set the dish aside and grabbed one apple slice off it, bringing it to his mouth and nibbling on it. Voices came from upstairs, and Clear listened in on them.

 

"Are you sure?" _That's Noiz._ "Here, Tae-san, let me-"

 

"I can stand up just fine!"

 

"Tae-san, please," Noiz tried again, and Clear's eyes widened.

 

 _She's up!_ Clear quickly went upstairs and, upon seeing Granny up on her feet – albeit held by Noiz – a grin spread on his face.

 

"Granny!" Clear exclaimed, overwhelmed, and closed in the distance between them. "Are you alright? Should you even be up?" he asked, one after another, and Tae-san just shot him a glare.

 

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Tae insisted, but Noiz still held her arm. "Now where's my grandson?" she asked, and both men froze.

 

 _Shit_ , Noiz mentally cursed and kicked himself.

 

 _Oh, no_ , Clear thought, feeling nervous.

 

"Well?" Tae insisted, and moved her gaze from one man to the other, getting more and more irritated with each passing second. "Where is he?"

 

"He's at Oval Tower," Noiz finally spoke up, and Clear let out a breath of relief. _I would have messed it up_. "We're going to get him out of there," he explained, and Tae's face paled.

 

"He's... He's there?" She sounded so confused, so sad, and Clear just wanted to hug her and promise her everything would be okay. But he also knew that she was stronger than she appeared, and that he'd probably get whacked in the head not long after he had hugged her.

 

"We're going to Platinum Jail tonight, Granny," Clear finally chimed in, and Tae's attention turned to him now. "Ren and Beni will stay here with you," he then said, gesturing to the Allmates in question.

 

"It would be our pleasure," Ren said, looking up at them and wagging his tail.

 

"Nobody's hurting Tae-san as long as we're here!" Beni proudly said, puffing out his feathers and standing proudly, even if he was currently on top of Ren's head. "You just go get those two idiots back. I have some words for Koujaku when he returns," he then muttered, and Clear couldn't help but chuckle.

 

"Then why are you still standing around?!" Tae suddenly yelled, snapping everyone back to reality and bringing their full attention on the elderly woman. "Is Koujaku looking for him?" she then asked, and both men exchanged tense looks before turning their attention on Tae again.

 

"He's there with Aoba," Noiz said, but wasn't sure what else to add. "Last thing I remember was that they went in there together, after some guy named Ryuuhou, and then...," he trailed off, brows furrowed. "All this happened." He gestured vaguely around them.

 

Tae remained silent for a few moments, and in that time Clear went over to an old chair and picked up that creepy, smiling white mask off the bundle of clothes that used to belong to one of the Alphas. When he looked at Tae again, he knew that she had caught on to what they were planning to do, but did not seem to be opposed to it.

 

"Then go," she finally said, nodding her head. "Bring my boys back," she said, looking up at Noiz. "But make sure you come back too." She brought a hand up to the young man's cheek and gently cupped it, as if, to her, he was a grandson, too.

 

"We will," Noiz promised, and then helped her get back into bed, while Clear turned his attention back on the white mask in his hands and frowned.

 

 

 

 

 

_**Platinum Jail (Hidden Entrance Tunnel)** _

_ **Northern District Border** _

_ **17:56 PM** _

 

"You ready?" Noiz asked, giving Clear a rather uneasy look.

 

"I'm ready," Clear said, but didn't look back at Noiz.

 

He knew all too well why Noiz was feeling uneasy. It was because of the Alpha costume. Clear felt uneasy, too, but he reminded himself that he had to stay strong. _For Master and Koujaku-san. And for Granny, too_ , he thought, nodding to himself. But, somewhat involuntarily, he cast a quick glance at Noiz, and was quickly reminded that he was doing this for him, too.

 

"Let's go," Noiz finally said, and they stepped into the darkness.


	10. Torment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei reaches out for help.
> 
> Mizuki goes missing.

 

 

_ **Platinum Jail** _

_ **Oval Tower** _

_ **Operating Room (19:05 PM)** _

 

_"Vitals?"_

 

_"So far so good."_

 

_"Heart rate?"_

 

_"Slow but steady. We're not gonna lose him."_

 

_"We better not, or they're gonna have our minds broken."_

 

_"Ugh, don't remind me. I still have nightmares."_

 

_"Ayano was an idiot. That's what you get for not following orders."_

 

"Well, he seems to be doing alright," Virus commented, hands behind his back as he observed the scene before him.

 

"Yeah, he sure does," Trip echoed, hands in his pockets, a light frown on his face.

 

They were standing outside the operating room where Sei was currently being looked after and implanted with various chips and other gadgets that would ensure his survival. It was a long and tedious process, but Toue would go to any lenghts to keep his "most precious son" alive so he could use him. Virus could not care less about all of this at first, but the more Sei endured, the more intrigued he and Trip became in the young man. Trip had inquired about Aoba a few times when all of this began, but every time they came across the man in question and tried to get him to come with them, the more he'd refuse and hurry down the hallway to "his precious Koujaku". Today was no different, really, with the only exception that this time around neither he nor Trip had asked Shiroba to come with them. Sei was much more interesting.

 

"Who's this Ayano again?" Trip asked, arching a brow and looking over to Virus.

 

"Hakuryu Ayano," Virus said, not taking his eyes off of Sei's masked face while he spoke. "She was a worker here, like them, but from what I've heard the Dye Music didn't have the desired effect on her. So..," he explained, trailing off at the end, since it was pretty much self-explanatory.

 

"Shiroba took care of her, huh?" Trip narrowed his eyes, and when Virus nodded his head he blew out his cheeks and shook his head. "Tough luck."

 

"Indeed."

 

Soon enough the frantic movements of the nurses and doctors stopped, after which they visibly relaxed and went about their job with less haste than before. Sei's heart rate was normal, probably for the first time in months, and it seemed like he was getting better. _And it seemed impossible, the way Toue's been straining him all this time_ , Virus thought, slightly narrowing his eyes when he saw one of Sei's fingers twitch.

 

"I guess it's good that Toue doesn't know about this yet," Trip commented, and Virus raised his brows, turning his head to look at the taller man. "That we're doing our own part in getting Sei back up on his feet, I mean," he clarified, and Virus hummed.

 

"You're right, it is good," he noted, and moved one hand up to his face, pushing his glasses up. "We need him up and moving around, after all," he reminded Trip, who just nodded his head in agreement.

 

"The real Aoba's still in there, somewhere," Virus continued, turning his attention back on Sei, who was slowly waking up, gently coaxed by one of the nurses. "Otherwise he wouldn't be going to check up on his brother every day like that."

 

"True, true," Trip murmured in agreement, and both men watched in silence as Sei was finally taken out of the operating room.

 

 

 

_ **Sei's Room** _

_ **22:15 PM** _

 

 _Brother..._ _Where are you?_

 

Sei slowly opened his eyes, but couldn't really make out anything besides the blurred and blended colors of what was supposed to be his room. _Am I... dead?_ Why else would he be sitting in this room? It was the only one he remembers having any color to it besides white or black, so it had to be his room. So why was he here? Was it all just some sort of... illusion? Was this even real? Had his body finally given up? Which part of his consciousness was this? Those thoughts raced through Sei's head, but he couldn't keep up with them, and he felt like going back to sleep.

 

"Ah, you're already awake, Sei-san," a somewhat familiar voice said, startling him.

 

_Who are you?_

 

"We were beginning to worry," another voice followed.

 

_Why are their voices so muffled?_

 

"Let's give him some space to breathe, Trip," the first voice spoke up again, and Sei's eyes widened.

 

_Why are you two here?_

 

"Alright, alright," the other voice said, somewhat irritated, but the person still did as he was told.

 

 _No, not them. Please, no_ , Sei furiously prayed, but it was no use. They were actually here, in Sei's room, which meant he was still alive. And every time Sei had crossed paths with those two it had ended badly for him. They never lay a hand on him, of course, "worried" about his health and whatnot, yet taking every chance they had to remind him of how fast he was running out of time. _I know. I know, dammit. I should've been dead by now. I shouldn't be here. Please, Aoba, destroy me_ , he pleaded, but to no avail. Sei knew all too well that the real Aoba was not there anymore, that Desire was in control now, and it was heartbreaking to see him hurt himself more and more with each passing day.

 

"Not that long ago you were stuck to all those tubes and wires," Virus began, and Sei saw the blurry shape of what he guessed was the man in question appear in front of him. _I have no strength to move my body._ "Now look at you, sitting up on your chair, and in your room, no less. All of it in the span of, what? Four hours? Less?"

 

_Wait... what?_

 

"Yep, that sounds about right," Trip chimed in, and Sei felt his chair move. _He must have leaned on it._ "It was really hard to keep it under wraps, you know? All the times we had  to convince that idiot Toue that he didn't need to come and visit you at every hour, or that your brother was in the room with you."

 

"Indeed," Virus continued. "But here you are now, looking somewhat better than before."

 

_But... I was on the brink of death. How... How did they manage to unplug me without killing me? I saw my reflection in that glass. I was dead. I looked dead. I... wish I was dead._

 

"You must still be in and out of it," Virus commented, and Sei saw him turn around, as if getting ready to leave. "But don't stay out of it too long. We need to get you back in that room before Toue starts asking questions," he said, and started walking towards the door.

 

"Bye bye, Sei-san!" Trip echoed after Virus, then walked off as well.

 

Sei's vision was still blurry, but when he moved his eyes down to look at himself, he froze. _I'm still... white. But the markings are... gone. They're really gone._ What did they even do to him? Sei could gather that his eyes were operated on as well, since his vision was still bad, and maybe on his overall mobility. He wasn't sure if he could walk, but at least he could feel that his pinky started actually moving after a few failed attempts. _It's something, at least_ , he thought, feeling his chest rise and fall steadily with each breath he took in and released, felt his heart beat at a normal rate, and that really surprised him. It's been _months_ since he last had a normal heart rate, probably even more, and to feel that it had regained its normal rhythm was somewhat relaxing. _Yes, that's the word. I finally feel more at ease._ But he still didn't trust Virus and Trip. They scared him, and Virus' curiosity played a huge part in Sei's fear towards him in particular. Trip always seemed to tail after Virus and pretty much parrot everything he said, but Sei remembers hearing some really terrifying things about him, way back when he was still able to stand on his own two feet and move around pretty much by himself. _Back when my body wasn't so weak_ , he thought, and felt a weak sigh escape his slightly parted lips.

 

He heard the door open again, saw people walk in and approach him, and the last thing he remembers is Virus' voice telling him it was time.

 

Then, everything went dark.

 

 

 

_Access granted._

 

 _Sei wanted to smile, but was unable to do it. He wasn't even in his own body anymore. He had left it the moment those people walked in his room and dragged him back to that dreaded_ _test tube. Now he was "looking" up at the face of a man he remembers seeing hanging out with Aoba, back when things looked hopeful and he guided his brother through almost everything, granting him access to the Tower and making sure everything went as it should._

 

_"Noiz-san, what is that?"_

 

_"Hm?"_

 

_"A new message on your Coil, maybe?"_

 

_"Let me see..."_

 

 _Sei didn't think he'd need to use that little mini-game anymore, but recent events have proven otherwise. He remembered this boy, with his almost childlike fascination with all the food the Green Playground had to offer,_ _and the way Aoba had managed to save him with Scrap._ _He observed the two men as they curiously stared at the retro game on the Coil's screen, watching as the character – now clad in silver armor, bearing a yellow-feathered helmet and green shield – walked through a dark room. It had stairs that led down to an even darker hallway, which, in turn, brought them to their destination – a cell. With two characters in it, one white and the other red. Confusion could be clearly seen on Noiz's face, and Sei wouldn't have been able to know what expression Clear was making if he hadn't pushed that creepy, smiling mask from his face._

 

 _"_ _A dungeon?" Noiz murmured, and Sei almost wanted to make the word 'YES' appear in big letters on the screen, but he refrained from doing so._

 

_**Please hear me. Please hurry. Save them, at the very least.** _

 

_They seemed confused, but were slowly catching on, and soon enough Sei watched them as they walked through the doors and walked into the Aqua Forest district. Sei made sure to mark another location on their map where they could stay, somewhere that wasn't Glitter, just in case. He knew all too well what Toue would do if he ever found out, and these two were Koujaku and Aoba's last chance._

 

_"There's a location marked on the map!" Clear pointed out._

 

_"It's not Glitter this time, at least," Noiz said and tossed one of his cube-shaped bunny Allmates in the air, watching it as it slowly floated around before coming to a standstill in front of him. "Take us there," he instructed, and watched as the Allmate spun around once before it started flying to their assigned destination._

 

_"We'll regroup and go over our plan one more time," Noiz spoke as they walked, trying his hardest to blend in._

 

_"And then we'll go to Oval Tower!" Clear said, sounding almost too excited, for which Noiz had to discreetly elbow him in the ribs. "S-sorry, Noiz-san," he mumbled, embarrassed._

 

 _Sei was_ _drifting from one consciousness to the next, following their progress from afar. One time he was nearly seen, huddled in a street corner with his knees hugged to his chest, but he quickly faded from view when Noiz tried to turn around and get a better look._

 

_**So far, so good. I need to... I need to get back now...** _

 

 _He was growing weary, and he needed to get back to the harsh reality that was his test tube. He would be back again to guide them some more, but for now they had enough clues, and it seemed like they were following their own plan. Sei wasn't sure how these two, specifically Noiz, had managed to steer clear from the effects of Dye Music, but then he guessed that the robot posing as one of the Alphas had something to do with it. He_ is _the one Toue always referred to as "broken", after all, so it must have played some part in helping Noiz out. So Sei slowly drifted back to his own body, half expecting to see his brother standing in front of him again, telling him how "handsome" he looked, and how it was a pity he'd die soon._

 

_Well, what other choice did Sei have?_

 

 

 

"Finally awake, Sei-san?"

 

_Wait. This isn't right._

 

"We were starting to worry, you know."

 

_No. No, no, no. No!_

 

"Yes, indeed. Trip and I were very concerned, especially since you were unresponsive to any kind of stimuli for a long time."

 

_Where? When? How?_

 

Sei couldn't move. He thought he'd be back in that dark room, not... wherever these two had brought him. He couldn't even see a thing, and for a moment thought that his eyes were gone, but then realized that it wouldn't make any sense for Virus and Trip to mutilate him now. They _did_ try to fix him up earlier, for all the good that it did.

 

"Wh... whe... re...," Sei croaked out, throat dry, and felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. "H-how...," he tried again, but had to stop and attempt to swallow down the lump in his throat.

 

_I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared._

 

"You'll be back in your test tube soon, don't worry," Virus assured him, and it seemed he was standing on Sei's right side. "We were simply curious as to how you held out for so long. Many thought you'd be dead by now."

 

_I'd rather be dead. Please, just kill me. Kill me!_

 

"Very curious, indeed," Trip echoed, to Sei's left, and the latter's blood ran cold when he realized how close the other man was to his ear. "This won't hurt, we promise."

 

_No._

 

He felt cold fingers wrap around his right arm.

 

_Don't touch me._

 

"Stay still now."

 

_Don't talk to me._

 

Another hand, this time from his left, came to rest at his chest.

 

_Leave me alone._

 

On his right thigh.

 

_No._

 

Gripping his jaw, forcing his mouth open.

 

_No!_

 

 

 

_ **Oval Tower** _

_ **Lobby** _

 

"Tch. This is ridiculous," Mizuki muttered, seated on one of the couches that seemed to be the all over the damn place. "What a waste of time," he muttered as he got up and turned around to leave.

 

He was currently in the part of the tower that everyone apparently called a Lobby, waiting for whatever "meeting" Virus and Trip had arranged for him. They even sent him a message via his Coil, and now they were bailing out on him?  _I can't understand them sometimes._ He didn't really see a need for it to be here, with the reception desks and all of that, but he guessed that there was a time when Toue would give the people of Platinum Jail random tours around the places that were open to the public. Still, it was empty now, and everything was blindingly white. It seemed like the staff still came around to clean all the tables and everything, even if it was never used.

 

"Eh, so much for nothing," Mizuki sighed, placing his hands in his pockets and slowly making his way back to his assigned room in the tower.

 

**_Mizuki. Mizuki._ **

 

Mizuki stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide, blood running cold. Was it them? Morphine? Now?

 

**_Help._ **

 

"What the hell...," he mumbled, taking a step back as he saw what looked like a person materialize, out of thin air, a few steps ahead of him. They were see-through, almost like a hologram, flickering in and out of existence. One hand was reaching out to him, mouthing inaudible words.

 

**_Mizuki, help me._ **

 

Was that... the boy Toue kept talking about? Sei? Mizuki remembered hearing about him from the other workers here, even from Virus and Trip, but this... was he even here? He didn't look real. He was a hologram. This was definitely a set up.

 

**_Come to me._ **

 

"Stay back!" Mizuki growled, taking another step back.

 

**_I'm begging you..._ **

 

But Mizuki didn't want to listen. He was panicking, and his first thoughts were that he'd end up on that cold floor again, barely with any clothes on him, and be put through something worse than just a simple needle to the back of his neck. What if he actually helped, and it turned out that it was set up by them? They'd definitely hurt him.

 

"No... No...," he kept muttering under his breath, turning around and running back out into the lobby.

 

**_Mizuki..._ **

 

This time, when Mizuki looked back, the hallway was empty again. Had he just hallucinated the whole thing? Could be. Those drugs sometimes fucked you over in really weird ways, made you see and hear things that weren't actually there. Yeah, that was it. Mizuki let out a relieved breath and chalked it up to his messed up imagination, slowly feeling himself relax the more he convinced himself that was the case. As he walked back, still a bit weary, he went over what just happened. _I've seen him before. Back at the start._ Yeah, that boy that Toue always loved to flaunt to the citizens, the one he called "son" yet tortured day and night with endless experiments, the one whose life was now supposedly hanging by a thread. _But why would he reach out to me?_ Mizuki wondered, slightly furrowing his brows as he walked. _Makes no sense, really._ Or maybe it did. Maybe it was the first person Sei could reach, _if_ he was really in danger like he said.

 

"Mizuki," a feminine voice whispered in the darkness, stopping him again. "Come here," the voice whispered again, tense.

 

"Not this again... No!" Mizuki snapped, wildly looking around, muscles tense and heart almost beating out of his chest.

 

His palms were sweaty, his mind was screaming at him to run, but the sheer terror of not knowing if what he was hearing was real or not kept him still. As he looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the owner of that voice, he suddenly heard it mutter a few curses, and the last thing he saw before everything went dark was a white-haired woman lunge at him from the shadows, and a pain exploding in his left cheek before the ground rushed up to meet him.

 

When he woke up, he knew one thing – he wasn't at Oval Tower anymore.


	11. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mizuki meets someone who he thought was long dead.

 

 

_ **Old Residential District** _

_ **Southern District** _

_ **5 years ago** _

 

_"Come on, Aoba," Mizuki urged him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's already down. There's no need to kill him!"_

 

_Aoba shot him a cold glare, but Mizuki didn't flinch. He's been on the receiving end of Aoba's glares and punches enough times to get used to it, but he also saw that, underneath the whole 'tough guy' façade, a scared, lonely person lay hidden. And maybe this was his way of coping with his inner demons, but Mizuki would be damned if he didn't at least try to pull Aoba out of whatever dark hole he was stuck in._

 

_"Let's go, Aoba," he pleaded, gripping Aoba's shoulder a bit more insistently._

 

_"Fine," Aoba muttered, making a sound of disapproval as he looked down at his latest victim._

 

_It was a Rhyme player that had somehow survived after a game against Aoba – even if he did lose – and had come looking for revenge. Petty, if you asked Mizuki, but there you had it. The poor guy had been beaten to a pulp and was barely hanging on, so Mizuki made sure to send out a_ _message to a couple of Dry Juice members to get this guy to a hospital. There were no vehicles, after all, so there was no other way to ensure this guy would get there otherwise. Aoba sighed and started walking, placing his hands in his pockets and looking down at his bag, from where Ren had poked out his head to tell him something. Aoba had told Mizuki how he found the dog, and it was that moment that reassured Mizuki that his friend was definitely not that far gone, after all. Not that he had anything against him right now, he'd be by Aoba's side no matter what, but the nagging feeling that something was weighing heavy on his friend wouldn't leave Mizuki alone._

 

_"Honestly, I can't figure out what's so good about Rhyme." Mizuki suddenly_ _spoke up_ _after they had walked in silence for some time. "_ _Are you protecting your imaginary turf or something?" He looked down at Aoba, brows slightly furrowed in confusion._

 

_"I like destroying things," Aoba said, nonchalant. "And people."_

 

_"Oh," Mizuki mumbled, lifting his eyebrows and looking ahead. "Alright, then. I guess."_

 

_Aoba just arched his brow at him and_ _gave him a weird look, brows furrowed and lips pressed together as his unusual eyes scanned Mizuki's face. To be honest, Mizuki found Aoba's eyes really fascinating – they seemed to glow with a low light, and he always felt as if his mind and soul were exposed to Aoba each time those golden eyes looked up at him._ _Right now was no different, and for a moment Mizuki felt like Aoba was looking for something in him, something to help him understand. Understand what, exactly?_

 

_"Why have you stuck around with me for so long?" Aoba suddenly asked, stopping in his tracks and waiting for Mizuki to do the same. "I fuck people up. For fun. I do drugs, I sleep around, I'm an all around terrible person," he said, laying out all his flaws, and for the first time Mizuki felt like the real Aoba was showing, the one hidden all those layers of 'toughness' he had built for himself with this Sly Blue persona. "You have a Rib team, sure, but you're the complete opposite. You're basically Mr. Goody Two-Shoes." Aoba scoffed and started walking again._

 

_"Me?" Mizuki laughed, trailing after the blue-haired boy. "Come on, Aoba, you've seen me in gang fights," he reminded him._

 

_Aoba rolled his eyes, sighing in exasperation before he stopped again and turned around, placing his hands on Mizuki's shoulders. The sudden movement and surprisingly strong grip that Aoba had startled Mizuki, his heart almost jumping out of his chest at the realization that Aoba could toss Mizuki to the ground and he wouldn't be able to retaliate. But he knew Aoba, and he could at least predict when his friend would start swinging. Now was definitely not going to happen._

 

_"I meant your team, you idiot!" Aoba snapped at him. "Your precious family, Dry Juice. They're still small, but you've been doing a good job in recruiting people. Hell, rumors of your gang are already spreading around the districts, and you're all deemed saints and whatnot."_

 

_"Wh-what?" Mizuki stammered, not really sure how to reply to that._

 

_"Point is, in your heart you're a good person," Aoba said, this time more relaxed, yet his grip on Mizuki's shoulders still somewhat strong. "I just can't figure out why you'd hang around with a lowlife like me," he muttered, lightly shoving Mizuki away._

 

_Mizuki watched him, flabbergasted, as Aoba hung his head and walked away from him. Why did he hang out with Aoba? Well, it was simple – they were friends. And the crazy shenanigans they used to get into worked like a charm in bringing them closer, and even if Aoba was your typical 'bad boy' that went around doing all those questionable things, he was still a dear friend to Mizuki. And he didn't plan on letting his friend off the hook so easily._

 

_"Because we're friends," Mizuki stated, short and simple, watching as Aoba froze, his shoulders tensing up. "You're not a lowlife to me, Aoba. You're my friend."_

 

_Aoba remained silent for a few moments, and Mizuki just waited. He knew his friend sometimes needed a lot more time to process things, and this was something he did only around Mizuki and no one else. Well, no one that Mizuki's heard of. Soon enough Aoba' slowly turned around to look at him, and this time the usual frown was gone from his face._

 

_"You mean that?" he asked, and for a second Mizuki was taken aback. This didn't sound like the Aoba he was used to at all. He sounded like a child right now, looking up bright-eyed and hopeful, waiting for a response. "You're not ticked off by my awful behavior? You won't reject me?" he kept asking._

 

_"Of course I won't," Mizuki assured him, walking over to Aoba and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Now stop moping around and let's get back to the bar to grab some drinks," he suggested, swinging an arm around Aoba's shoulders, playfully tugging him along. "Whaddya say?"_

 

_"Ugh! Fine, fine," Aoba grunted, but Mizuki could see the small smile on his friend's lips. Good. "You're awful," he mumbled as they walked down the busy street, heading for the Black Needle._

 

_"And you suck," Mizuki shot back, not missing a beat._

 

_"I sure do," Aoba hummed, and when Mizuki looked down at him, he saw a smirk tugging at Aoba's lips._

 

_"Oh... Oh, fuck you, too," Mizuki groaned, making a disgusted noise and rolling his eyes._

 

_Aoba just laughed at him and elbowed his side playfully, and Mizuki shoved him in return. He wasn't disgusted, not at all actually, but he was really getting tired of how Aoba always latched on to the first opening he saw to make a joke about his sex life. It was none of his business anyways, and hearing about it every day sometimes gave Mizuki the urge to strangle Aoba. Shit, he'd probably like that too. Ugh._

 

_"Is that an offer?"_

 

_"Shut up."_

 

_Aoba's laughs echoed in the night air, mixing with the sounds of the people in the Southern District, and they kept walking and joking around with each other._

 

 

 

**_Platinum Jail_ **

**_Flame Willow District_ **

**_Unknown Apartment (02:43 AM)_ **

 

The loud noise of glass falling and breaking on the ground startled Mizuki awake, but when he tried to sit up a sharp pain shot through his skull, forcing him to lie back down and wince in pain.

 

"Oh, Sleeping Beauty's finally up," a female voice said, but there were lights dancing in Mizuki's vision each time he opened his eyes, so he couldn't really see who the voice belonged to. "Ayano, get over here. He's up," she shouted at someone.

 

Mizuki felt like a small part of the fog that was in his head lifted the moment he heard that name. _Ayano._ He tried blinking away the dizziness, but it came back swinging full force the moment someone rushed into the room and knelt beside him, their hands shaking his shoulders as they tried to bring him back to reality.

 

"God.. fucking.. dammit!" Mizuki snapped, shoving the unknown person away and pushing himself up on one elbow, his other hand coming up to cover his eyes. "Shut the fuck up for a second, will you?" he muttered, rubbing his eyelids with his index and thumb, brows furrowed.

 

The pain in his head was awful, but soon enough his vision cleared up enough for him to be able to take in his surroundings. First thing he noticed was that he was laid out in a futon, then he looked around and noticed how traditionally Japanese everything looked – the sliding doors, the windows, even the tatami floor mats. The room was mostly dark, save for a few paper lamps that were placed on top of different furniture, so that you could at least see where you were and what you were doing.

 

"Mizuki," the voice spoke up again. "Are you alright?" she asked, and he turned his head to look at her.

 

The woman that was kneeling beside him looked to be about his age, her skin was a few shades darker than his, yet what stood out the most was her short, white hair. It was literally like snow, with one side almost completely shaved, while the other was left hanging over her right eye. The tips were dipped in red, and her eyes seemed to be dark brown, but when Mizuki leaned in a bit closer he saw the thin ring of amber around her pupils. And, last but not least, her tattoos. The tear-shaped one on her left cheek. Mizuki's blood ran cold and his heart almost beat out of his chest, his breathing became shallow and his eyes widened as he took in the sight.

 

"Your tattoo," he said, but didn't move to touch her. "It's like mine. Are you... Dry Juice?" he asked, and suddenly kicked himself mentally.

 

 _Dry Juice? You're Morphine. You should've said Morphine, idiot_ , his mind's voice nagged him, and Mizuki found it hard to ignore it.

 

"Yeah, I am," the white-haired woman confirmed, nodding her head. "You might be wondering how I'm not dead," she said, chuckling while slightly shaking her head. "Maybe you don't even remember me."

 

Mizuki narrowed his eyes at her, searching through his maze of a mind for a memory of her face. But his mind only brought up the endless torture Virus and Trip had put him through, the amount of suffering and death he's seen while under the effects of Morphine's drugs, and the rest was blank. When the woman noticed he wasn't responding she sighed and pursed her lips.

 

"Ayano. Hakuryu Ayano," she introduced herself, placing one hand over her chest.

 

Mizuki noticed her red fingerless gloves, the black leather jacket and red tank top poking out from underneath. Her outfit resembled his to some degree, but it wasn't identical. _So she really used to be Dry Juice. Huh. So how did she end up here?_ This made no sense.

 

"When I heard you were getting desperate to keep Dry Juice together, I went out and did everything I could to convince some of our people to return," she started explaining, making sure she maintained eye contact with him throughout the entire thing. "But when I found out you had sold out our team to Morphine, I...," she trailed off, a hint of pain in her voice as she spoke.

 

"Sold off?" Mizuki suddenly scoffed, waving her off. "I _saved_ Dry Juice. I didn't sell them off like cattle," he growled, frowning at her.

 

"But you did," Ayano shot back, firm, without missing a beat. "You did and, somewhere deep down, you know it," she said, not backing down without a fight. "This isn't you, Mizuki. This isn't the man that created a family under the name Dry Juice. When I found out, I did my damnest to stay out of those twins' sights."

 

_How the hell did you manage that without getting brainwashed first?_

 

"The Alphas were more difficult," she continued, this time her tone a bit softer. "Eventually they caught me and brought me to the tower. I... was brainwashed. Or so I thought."

 

_What?_

 

"For weeks, or maybe months, I was in this trance-like state. I kept going in and out of it, and the only thing I remember from that time was Virus' goddamn arrogant face," she spat out his name with hatred, brows furrowed and lips pressed together. "I vaguely remember when they brought me in to train me as a surgeon, for whatever reason they had. That was definitely weird."

 

_A surgeon? For Sei, perhaps?_

 

"But the drugs kept wearing off. Faster than the others, apparently, and the last time neither Virus nor his lapdog Trip were around to notice. So,-" she held her palms up, maintaining eye contact with Mizuki to convince him of her honesty. "-I gathered my senses and got out. Met Eksha over there," she said, pointing with a thumb behind her at the woman who was currently typing something on her Coil.

 

Mizuki looked over at this Eksha person, and realized that she was actually younger than he had first thought. Her voice was deep, but now that Mizuki thought about it, it wasn't really the voice of an older woman. This girl was probably in her late teens, yet she looked so calm and composed, so mature and yet... so _cold_. Her copper skin glowed warmly in the dim light, and her hair was an interesting combination of black at the top, dark red in the middle and a light auburn on a large portion of her tips. He couldn't make out much of her face, but he did note the straight nose and high cheekbones.

 

"And who is she to you?" Mizuki asked, returning his attention to Ayano again.

 

"She's... my partner," Ayano mumbled, casting a quick glance at the other girl, who simply returned the look before going back to her work. "She's not from the island. When I was still in Dry Juice, she would often come to visit all the way from India, and, well...," she trailed off, looking down as a blush rose to her cheeks.

 

"So you're together," Mizuki stated, filling in the blanks. _Why is she taking so long?_ "Congratulations. But you're still gonna get caught," he said, his voice cold and emotionless.

 

Ayano widened her eyes for a moment and Eksha's head snapped up, a hint of anger in her eyes as she stared him down from the other end of the room. Mizuki didn't care.

 

"Point is, I contacted her after I broke out of Oval Tower and came here, to-" she started again, but was soon cut off.

 

"Don't tell him. Not yet," Eksha said, not taking her eyes off the screen of her Coil. "I doubt you'd want me to be the one knocking him out this time around," she said, and Mizuki shot her a confused look.

 

"Okay." Ayano cleared her throat nervously. "I contacted her. It was a pain in the ass, really, to get her here. Almost lost her to that goddamn Dye Music," she muttered bitterly, and something in Mizuki's mind clicked.

 

"Dye Music?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "I do remember hearing something about it not having a good effect on you," he murmured, hoping she had a good answer.

 

"It didn't," she confirmed, lifting her chin up. "Let me guess – they told you that white freak took care of me, didn't they?" she asked, and Mizuki frowned.

 

"You mean Aoba," he corrected her before he could stop himself, as if running on some kind of forgotten instinct.

 

"That's not Aoba and you know it, Mizuki," Ayano snapped at him, frowning. "That's something else, something way more dangerous than those Alphas, or even Virus and Trip," she said, waving her hand in the general direction of where she guessed Oval Tower was, a way to get her point across.

 

"Fine, you've made your point," Mizuki sighed, almost getting bored with all of this. What was the point of it all? "Why'd you bring me here?" he asked, slightly shifting in place to get a bit more comfortable.

 

"We're going to save our guys," Ayano said, sounding way too confident. "And we can't do that without our leader at the forefront, can we?" she winked at him, and something stirred in Mizuki.

 

His heart skipped a beat, and for a few moments he could feel the fog lift from his mind, allowing him to see things a bit clearer than before. But then, just as in his mind he reached out to that one memory that's been bugging him ever since he woke up, the fog descended on his mind again, and his eyes lost the light they had gained a few moments back.

 

"Good luck," he mocked Ayano, smirking at her. "You'd still be better off joining us at Morphine, you know," he said, arching a brow at her.

 

The last thing he saw was her sighing, then lifting her fist and hitting him in the face.


	12. Cor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei notices a change in his body, specifically his heart.

 

 

_ **Platinum Jail** _

_ **Oval Tower** _

_ **06:55 AM** _

 

_Stop._

 

_Leave me alone._

 

_Get your hands off me._

 

_Don't do this, please!_

 

_No..._

 

_No._

 

_No!_

 

Sei couldn't scream, or lash out, or do anything to defend himself. He just lay there like a broken doll, trying to ignore the pain in his jaw as what he assumed was Trip's hand held it tightly, forcing his mouth to stay open. He's not really sure what they were forcing down his throat, but the taste of it was bitter and it burned, oh God, it _burned_.

 

"Now, now," Virus cooed in his ear, and Sei let out a choked gasp. "This is for your own good," he assured him, sounding frighteningly calm.

 

_Liar. Let me go!_

 

Sei should be used to this by now. All the poking, prodding, experimenting and whatnot that his body had endured since the day he was born had pretty much numbed him to the experience, but there was something about those two that made his heart race and fear wash over him in one cold wave after another. He thought he could just disconnect and return when it was all over, but there was something that prevented him from doing so. Was it that awful liquid they forced down his throat? Or maybe it was the needle that pierced the nape of his neck just now, and that his mind didn't really register because it was so used to things like that.

 

"How is he?" Virus asked, and the pressure on Sei's jaw slightly loosened.

 

"Well, his skin is not as white as before," Trip said, and soon after that moved his hand away.

 

A choked gasp escaped Sei's lips and his chest heaved as his breaths became shallow, his hair and shirt were stuck to his skin from the sweat that had formed on his body, and, finally, the gut-sink moment left acid in his mouth and tears in his eyes – shock. _I'm going into shock_ , he realized, and now more than ever wished he could will his body to move so he could get up and run, run as far as he could, away from Virus and Trip and their insane prodding and experimenting on him. His face was wet, and it took Sei longer than he would've liked to realize that he was actually crying.

 

"Alright, sit him up," Virus finally spoke, and the hands that were holding him down earlier  slowly loosened their grip.

 

Trip's hand disappeared from his jaw and Sei felt himself let out a shaky breath of relief, which was followed by an amused chuckle on Trip's end.

 

"What's the matter?" He asked, and Sei's breath got stuck in his throat as he felt the other man shift closer to him. "Didn't like that?"

 

_ Get away from me! _

 

Virus and Trip slowly helped Sei up to a sitting position, and he soon realized that he was actually on a bed.  _ A bed? Why would I be on a bed?  _ None of this made any sense.  At all. Sei felt the two men move and pull him along with them until he was off the bed, trying his hardest to keep himself up, despite his legs being unresponsive and weak.

 

"Easy there," Trip muttered, gripping Sei's arm tighter. "Don't want you falling down."

 

_ It hurts. _

 

"Let's get you back," Virus said, and both men started guiding Sei in taking the first few steps.

 

It felt awkward, more than anything else. Sei was used to someone helping him walk around all the time, especially after his health started declining, but this was on a whole new level. The people that had first fixed him up, then proceeded to torment him, were now actually helping him walk.  _ I don't understand them. What are they trying to do here?  _ Sei knew he wouldn't get any clear answers from them, so he forced himself to accept the fact that all of this would forever remain a mystery to him.

 

"Try walking, Sei-san," Virus said, his voice gentle and encouraging, close to his ear.

 

Goosebumps covered Sei's skin, but he tried his best to do as he was told and forced his body to obey his mind.  _ Move. Move. Move.  _ He kept repeating in his head, and soon enough, through the numbness in his entire body, felt a light tingling sensation as his muscles slightly tensed and his left leg inched forward.  _ Yes. Keep going. One after the other.  _ He mentally encouraged himself, and soon enough felt that his entire body was, slowly but steadily, starting to respond to his commands. He took one step, then another, stumbled once but then quickly got back up on his feet and kept walking.  Virus and Trip were helping him every step of the way, and soon enough Sei could feel them tug at his arms in a silent sign to stop.  Sei absentmindedly wondered why there were bandages wrapped around his chest, and why his eyes hurt so much, but right now he needed to focus on moving his legs. He heard a door open, after which he took a few more steps, and was then gently pushed down onto a chair.

 

_ A chair? _

 

He suddenly started moving – or, specifically, the chair – and Sei realized that he was actually in a  _ wheelchair _ . Sei didn't realize that his muscles were tense up until now, so he pursed his lips and tried to relax. Easier said than done, but his body did feel a bit lighter than just a few seconds ago. Virus and Trip were talking about something, and Sei tried to listen, but once he found out it wasn't about him he decided to try and zone out for a bit. Instead he focused on the beating of his own heart, the regular breaths coming in and out through his nose, and how it felt so much more easier to breathe now than ever before.

 

_ Thump thump. _

 

That was the sound of a healthy heart, even if Sei barely remembers it anymore. It is noticeably easier to breathe now, his head doesn't feel as light as it had before, and  he didn't feel as tired as he used to. His body was still weak and could barely hold him up, yes, but each time Sei heard the steady  _ thump-thumping  _ of his heart, he felt like he could just get up and run down the hallway, just for the hell of it, just to feel the air on his face and in his hair, and, for once in his life, to  _ not  _ depend on other people either carrying or helping him walk everywhere.  _ I can't do that, though _ , he sadly reminded himself, and tilted his head down. He was feeling a bit sleepy after everything that's happened, and even though the very people who were forcefully holding him down were now taking care of him.  _ Even if they're going to end up putting me back in that tube _ , Sei reminded himself.

 

"And here we are," Virus spoke up, drawing Sei back to reality.

 

"In you go," Trip murmured behind him, and for a moment a cold wave of fear washed over Sei.

 

He wanted to speak, but his throat constricted and did not allow him to form any words, aside from a small, distressed whine. He heard Trip chuckle at that, and wondered if the ground could just open up right now and swallow Sei.  _ I guess it was inevitable _ .  They lifted him up again, and Sei heard the hissing sound the glass of the test tube made as it slid down. He didn't need to see it to know that it was empty, or that the metal tubes that hung from the ceiling above them, waiting to be attached to his colorless skin and suck the life out of him once more. And, as if reading his mind, Trip spoke up.

 

"Don't worry about the tubes," he said, and Sei felt him place a hand on Sei's chest to hold him still, while with the other he undid the blindfold. "They're just for show now," he assured him.

 

"Of course, Toue won't know the difference," Virus continued, and Sei felt the other man's hand on the small of his back. "We'll be back for you again, Sei-san. Now, rest," he finally said, and right after those words a piercing pain coursed throughout Sei's body.

 

_ It's starting _ . He bit back a yelp as he felt the tubes attach themselves to his body. He heard Virus and Trip walking away from him, heard the hissing of the glass walls as they rose, and felt the water that was now starting to fill the tube at his feet.  _ Please, no. Enough of this. Just end it, please...  _ Nobody was going to respond. Sei knew that, yet he desperately hoped that somehow, someone out there would reach into his mind and hear his call.  _ Impossible _ . All Sei could do now was hang his head low and keep his eyes closed. He didn't open them when Trip removed the blindfold, worried that his skin there would break if he did, because they hurt so much. Sei would just stay like this and let his mind wander from one place to another, observing the world but never really being there to actually experience it, and wishing that he was dead instead of stuck in this cursed tower for the remainder of his days.

 

_ My only wish is for Aoba to be safe. To regain his Reason and escape. That's all I ask. It's too late for me anyways. _


	13. Attempt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba reaches out. Desire pushes him down, again.

 

 

**_Stop this._ **

 

_Oh? What have I done now?_

 

**_This! All of this! He's locked up and hurting, and you are too._ **

 

_Me? Nonsense. Besides... Koujaku is doing fine. He has what he's always wanted – Aoba. Me. Here, with him. Accepting him and loving him._

 

**_Not like this! God, please, not like this..._ **

 

_Do you remember when we were kids, Aoba?_

 

**_Wh-... what?_ **

 

_The first time I came out to protect you. The one and only time Koujaku was too late to rescue you._

 

**_You... you did that? You scared those kids off?_ **

 

_Indeed._

 

**_I..._ **

 

_No need to say anything. You were always ungrateful anyways._

 

**_I didn't know..._ **

 

_Koujaku came right after those idiots ran off. I remember it clearly – I was still in control, trying my damnest to make sure there were no other threats nearby. He asked if I was okay, and I was... surprised, really. More than anything else. He spoke to me. To_ me _, your Desire!_

 

**_He... He didn't say anything?_ **

 

_Of course not. I asked him why he was not afraid. I told him I looked different, that I sounded different, too. And do you know what he did? He_ smiled _. He smiled and he crouched down in front of me and said, as sure as the sun rises from the East, that I was still Aoba to him. That no matter what, he'd always be_ _by my side_ _._

 

**_Of course he would..._ **

 

_And then he left. A year later, he left the island. I think that, for the first time, I felt something... sadness, maybe. He was gone, and we were back at square one. You, rejecting me with all you had, while giving Restraint all the love and acceptance in the world!_

 

**_I was scared, okay?! You were scaring me! What was I supposed to do?_ **

 

_I wanted you to accept me!_

 

**_By telling me to destroy things the whole time?_ **

 

_Pretend all you want, Aoba, but in the end I am you. Desire. The darkest part of your soul. Don't play innocent with me now._

 

**_That may be so, but it doesn't mean I want to go on a rampage!_ **

 

_Does it look like I want to go on a rampage?_

 

**_I- Well-_ **

 

_I saved your ungrateful ass countless times!_

 

**_And what about my Rhyme years?_ **

 

_You were grieving. You held on for a while after Koujaku left, but then it became too much. You locked yourself inside your mind, and the only way to keep your body from staying in one spot and dying there was to do something about it._

 

**_You hurt countless people, don't you remember that?_ **

 

_I admit, I let loose a lot of the time. But I am Desire, after all. I destroy. That's the only thing that gives me pleasure._

 

**_How am I supposed to believe you had any good intentions towards me, after everything you've done?_ **

 

_I could've let a lot of things slide. The encounter with Mink. That night back at Glitter. Or the countless other times I've gotten you out of a tough spot._

 

**_That's not fair._ **

 

_Nothing is fair, Aoba. It is how it is. Do you think Koujaku would have lasted even a day, the way he is now? I kept him safe! He saw me and accepted me, and I want to do the same in return._

 

**_Look at him. He's in pain!_ **

 

_He's as he should be. I love this Koujaku even more than the old one, honestly. That wild glint in his eye, everything removed and his instinct the only thing laid bare, for me to see and to love._

 

**_Please... Please, let me reach out to him..._ **

 

_Nighty night, Aoba._


	14. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clear can't get some things out of his head.

 

_**Platinum Jail** _   
_**Pontus House** _   
_**10:11 AM**_

"You've been eating _what_?!" Clear exclaimed, jaw dropping as he heard those words escape Noiz's lips. "How is that even possible?" He was honest-to-God confused and concerned at this point.

 

"You heard me. Pizza and pasta," Noiz repeated, nonchalant, as he once again typed something on his computer.

 

Clear wondered how Noiz's body was still functioning properly after all those years of eating junk food like that. And don't get him started on all the times he's wondered how Noiz's eyes had lasted this long without the need for glasses, especially if his job revolved around staring at computer screens all day long.

 

Clear stood up from his spot on the couch. "I got up a few hours earlier to make some breakfast. It's really concerning that your diet has only consisted of pizza and pasta, Noiz-san! Wait here, please!" He quickly ducked out of the living room and skipped over to the kitchen.

 

This place was slightly different from the Glitter apartment. Sure, the furniture and everything was almost the same, but the color scheme was different. _Maybe it's because of the district we're in_ , Clear vaguely thought as he placed the rice in two bowls, humming a tune under his breath as he reached up to one of the cupboards and pulled out a pair of chopsticks. It wasn't much, just some steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish and a few side dishes with pickles, fermented soy beans and some chopped up vegetables. Everything here was white, with some light blue and sea green colors here and there, and after awhile the brightness started irritating his eyes. _But it's beautiful_ , he thought as he placed the breakfast in a tray and started carrying it back to the living room. _Reminds me of the sea. And the lights on the trees outside, they're like fireflies._ Clear saw that Noiz hadn't moved an inch from his spot as he walked into the living room again.

 

"Time to eat, Noiz-san," he called, going over to the table to set the tray down. "You need to eat something else besides pizza and pasta, you know," he chastised him, for a moment there feeling a bit of déjà vu. "If you had told me that when we were back at my house-"

 

"Alright, _fine_ ," Noiz sighed, turning off the monitor and keyboard, his attention now on Clear. "I'll eat your food," he said, pulling the tray closer to him and picking up the chopsticks.

 

Clear just watched and waited, but it seemed like Noiz wasn’t going to make a move on the food any time soon. Clear furrowed his brows and slowly sat down beside the other man, waiting silently and patiently for him to start eating. _I wonder what’s taking him so long. Does it not smell good? Or is he not that hungry?_ Clear silently wondered, tilting his head to the side. Noiz’s face was tense, brows slightly knitted together and his lips were pursed.

 

"Noiz-san?" Clear spoke up, wondering what was going on. "Are you alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

 

"I'm good," Noiz finally said, and started eating his food.

 

 

_**13:35PM** _  


"You're toast," Noiz muttered as he narrowed his eyes at the holographic computer screen. "And... we're in." He smirked, and Clear noticed how the pseudo bunny on the screen was leaning against the now broken brick wall, breathing heavily.

 

"It must be very exhausted," Clear pointed out, and Noiz just hummed in response.

 

Oval Tower's security had been hacked, yet nobody came barging into their apartment just yet. Noiz said that he was covering his tracks, yet Clear couldn't help but wonder for how long that would last before someone in that tower realized something was not right. Well, the sooner they get in there, the better. Clear was getting more and more restless as the hours rolled by. Even if here in Platinum Jail the stars always shone and daylight never came, people would still go out more during the "day" than they would at night. Noiz tried watching TV when they first came here yesterday, but the moment the Dye Music came on Clear had to scramble from the kitchen to the living room and turn the TV off before it did any further damage. The moment the song was cut off Noiz was back to normal, and Clear spent a good half hour reprimanding him like a child, after which he insisted that Noiz just _had_ to get some sleep in order for the effects to fully wear off. After Noiz had finally given in and tucked himself in on the couch, Clear had sat down on the ground and sung him to sleep with his song. As a result Noiz had stayed up all night after that, trying his best to find a way around Oval Tower's security and break it down so he could gain access and turn things to their advantage. At one point that retro game had popped up on Noiz's Coil, this time around transferring something that ended up being helpful in hacking the tower's mainframe.

 

"We have about an hour before they realize something's wrong, so here's hoping that program does its job," Noiz said as he got up and ran his fingers through his hair. "We need to go over the plan one more time," he reminded Clear, who was just looking back at him, his full attention directed at Noiz.

 

"Alright, Noiz-san," Clear nodded his head and headed over to the stairs, figuring it would be best to go over the things he brought with himself from his house.

 

Noiz headed for the shower downstairs, and in the meantime Clear rummaged through his stuff. His gas mask, his gloves, his umbrella and, last but not least, his knife. _My head hurts every time I look at it._ Clear sighed and placed the knife in the pocket of the Alpha's coat, then picked up his gas mask and looked at it. His grandpa's words ran through his head on loop, but they didn't have the same effect on him like they used to before. _That's because Aoba-san helped me. I'm not a monster. I'm a normal person, just like Aoba-san, and Noiz-san, and Koujaku-san, too._ A small smile appeared on Clear's lips as he set the gas mask down, picked up the Alpha's clothes from the bed, and walked out of the room, breathing in and out slowly as he made his way down the stairs. _I wish I could take the other stuff, but sadly I can't. The knife will have to do,_ he thought as he finally reached the first floor and looked around, pink eyes searching for Noiz, until they finally saw him, and Clear's breath got stuck in his throat while a blush rose to his cheeks.

 

"Hey, you," Noiz said, and one of his cube-shaped bunny Allmates flew over to him. "Progress?" he asked, and the cube spun around once before giving him a full report, after which Noiz nodded with what Clear assumed was masked satisfaction. "Alright," he said dismissively and the cube-shaped Allmate flew off.

 

 _He... he's only wearing a towel. It's just a towel. Why is my face getting so hot?_ Clear's mind was racing, and it felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest when Noiz's striking green eyes turned to look at his wide-open pink ones. A light, confused frown crossed Noiz's features, and Clear had to mentally kick himself in order to snap out of whatever trance he seemed to have been caught in at that moment. _He... definitely looks well-built. Lean, but still attractive_. Those thoughts came to his head before he could stop them, and his face got even hotter. _Is he smirking?! He's definitely smirking! Oh, God..._ Clear turned his head away and suddenly remembered that he tray was still on the coffee table, so he clumsily picked it up, palms sweating, and made a beeline for the kitchen, where he dropped the tray a bit too hard on the counter. A light snickering could be heard behind him, and Clear had to suppress the urge to turn around and tell him off. _Stop blushing, Clear! Stop. Blushing. Darn it!_ Clear tried counting to ten and taking deep breaths as he tried to calm down. He placed his hands on his cheeks and could barely suppress an embarrassed groan at the realization that he was still _blushing_.

 

"You doing okay over there?" Noiz called out, startling Clear and almost making him jump out of his skin. _Footsteps. He's getting closer._ "Those aren't gonna wash themselves, you know," he said, matter-of-fact, and Clear was honestly unable to respond for five solid seconds.

 

"I-" Clear stuttered, moving the bowls to the sink with shaky hands. "I was just about to do that," he said, feeling as if his heart would beat out of his chest any moment now.

 

"You're looking a little nervous there," Noiz said, and moved closer to him, making Clear even more flustered. "Need a hand?" he asked, seemingly nonchalant, but his body language suggested otherwise.

 

Clear was not normally aware of how humans worked, but he did have a basic knowledge from what Toue had installed in him upon his creation. And, right now, he seemed to be hyper-aware of all that information, and applying it to Noiz's current behavior, well... it was all too similar. How close he stood next to Clear, how close his lips were to Clear's ear, and how his tone of voice was intentionally lower than it normally was, yet not in a bad way. Clear wanted to stay, but also to run away and hide somewhere until he cooled off.

 

"N-Noiz-san...," Clear mumbled nervously, turning his head away slightly and trying to put some distance between them. "I-I'm good," he stuttered, noticing that he failed to sound convincing enough, but still prayed that it would work out.

 

"Oh?" Noiz hummed, and Clear could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

 

Clear just managed to utter out a week 'uh-huh' sound, nodding his head vigorously, before he turned on the water in the sink and started cleaning the first bowl. He cast a quick glance at Noiz, who finally stepped aside and, of course, was still _smirking_. When their eyes met Clear nearly dropped the bowl he was cleaning, and heard another chuckle come from Noiz, but had no time to respond to it as the latter was already walking away. _To get dressed, probably. God, that was embarrassing..._

 

 

_**16:55PM  
** _

Clear wished the ground would open up and swallow him right about now, especially after what happened just a few moments ago. He was seated on the couch, his back turned to Noiz, who was looking into his wiring and trying to determine the best way to fully simulate a "functional" Alpha's signal. At first Clear was on board with the idea, despite the many times Noiz warned him how it could go wrong, but nothing could prepare Clear for the look he received the moment he unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. _Why is he staring at me?_ For a moment Clear thought he had something on his body, so he frantically tried looking for it, but couldn't really find anything besides the barely-noticeable mismatched patches of skin. _Why is he smirking like that? Noiz-san is so confusing!_ Finally sitting down and turning his back to Noiz, Clear had some time to think about the other man's recent behavior. The way he would tease Clear more and more each time the latter blushed or became even slightly flustered in Noiz's presence, or just randomly throw out inappropriate phrases and jokes with a completely straight face. But Clear had to think back on the days in the Northern District, too. At first it wasn't much, and Clear just chalked it up to Noiz being a bit more social than before due to Aoba successfully performing Scrap on him, but then Clear began to notice that Noiz had been acting particularly kinder to him than to anyone else. _He's even stood up for me, even way back when things were still normal_ , Clear recalled. It was that day when they were all in the Junk Shop's basement, trying to figure out a way to infiltrate Platinum Jail. Koujaku had called him a freak, and while Clear was trying his best not to break into tears right there and then, he had heard Noiz's even voice cut through the commotion, with a hint of irritation in it.

 

 

_"You don't really have the right to say that about anyone."_

 

 _  
_ At first Clear had thought Noiz was talking about himself only, but when he looked at him he realized that Noiz was staring back as well. _So it wasn't just my imagination._ People liked to think that Clear was oblivious to everything, but that was not really the case. Yeah, he acted like a child most of the time, but deep down he felt, noticed and remembered everything. Especially the time when Noiz would stay up hours on end, running maintenance on Clear, who had just died for his Master on the roof of a building. Those blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments when Clear would see worry in Noiz's eyes, only to be completely replaced by feigned indifference, as if Noiz was trying to concentrate on fixing Clear up without making any mistakes and getting carried away. Those same hands that could inflict so much pain with a single punch, gently wrapping the bandages around his torso and head, his eyes, silent, constantly asking if he was okay and if anything felt funny. Clear found himself noticing more and more things about Noiz after that day - the way his hands felt around Clear's body as he was being held up and guided to walk around the room, the constant looks of concern Noiz would throw his way whenever something was wrong, or how he'd always step up and defend him if anyone called him weird.

 

"Earth to Clear," Noiz called out, and Clear suddenly felt a flash of pain run through him. _Did he just pull on the cables?!_ "I asked you a question."

 

"Oh! Uh...," Clear stammered, heat rising to his cheeks as he tried to regain his composure.

 

"I asked you if anything felt weird," Noiz said, sounding a bit irritated, but Clear knew that was not really the case.

 

"I'm feeling good, Noiz-san," Clear assured him, turning his head to look at Noiz and give him a smile. "Is everything okay on your end?"

 

"Peachy," Noiz mumbled, and finally closed the lid on Clear's back. Clear heard the familiar hiss and click as it fell into place, and felt a light shiver run through his body as it settled. "Alright, you're good to go," Noiz said as he got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water.

 

Clear took a few moments to observe Noiz - his relaxed movements, his lean yet strong physique, the piercings on the nape of his necks barely visible under the strands of strawberry blonde hair that covered them. The way his fingers wrapped around the glass and the way his lips parted when he brought said glass up to them and- _Snap out of it!_ Clear mentally kicked himself and quickly looked away, hoping that Noiz wouldn't notice how his shoulders moved as his chest heaved, breaths shallow, and how the blush reached the tip of his ears. _Why am I feeling like this?_ He wondered, but was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when Noiz spoke up again.

 

"I'm heading out," Noiz said, and Clear quickly stood up, rushing over to Noiz before he could reach for the doorknob. "What?" he asked, frowning.

 

"Noiz-san, isn't that dangerous?" Clear asked, worry lacing his voice. He didn't realize he had grabbed Noiz's arm, but the latter didn't seem to notice. Or didn't care. "What if you get caught? What if Toue finds you? What if they start suspecting you're not like them?" he kept asking one question after another, and Noiz grew more and more exasperated.

 

"I'll be fine," Noiz said, but when Clear opened his mouth to ask something else, a hand suddenly reached out to grab the front of Clear's shirt, pulling him closer to Noiz's face.

 

"Noiz-san, what-" Clear started, but was quickly cut off when he felt something soft press against his own lips.

 

Clear's eyes widened, his head felt light and his knees almost gave out from under him, but before he could fully process what just happened the feeling was gone, and he once again could see Noiz's face clearly, looking impassive as ever. The grip on Clear's shirt loosened, and all Clear could do was just stare wide-eyed and slack-jawed at Noiz as the latter walked out the door and into the streets of the Aqua Forest district.


	15. Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Alphas are catching up to them.

 

 

 _ **Platinum Jail  
**__**Aqua Forest District**_ _ **  
**___**17** **:** **22** **PM  
  
** "Thank you for shopping from us!" The girl behind the counter seemed awfully cheerful, and Noiz had to suppress an eye roll. "Come back any time!"

 

  
Noiz walked away from the food stand and looked down at his bag – crepes, octopus dumplings, deep-fried doughnuts and some other foods that seemed interesting. He didn't know what gave him the urge to just go out and do this, but then realized that he was actually... _missing_ Aoba. _It's official. I'm so kicking his ass._ This whole thing with the feelings and caring about someone else had him messed up for days after it had happened, and he hadn't really realized back then how much he had grown to care about the person that saved him; the one man that gave it all for his friends and never asked for anything in return, which had confused and fascinated Noiz all at once.  
  
  
  
_**"There may be only one thing I can teach you. Maybe... the fact that this world is not as bad as you think it is."**_ _  
  
"I haven't thought about what kind of place this world is. I'm not interested."  
  
__**"That's because you just don't know. Because you have an awful lot of things you don't know about."**_ _  
  
"Is there a reason I should know?"  
  
__**"Well, to put it in your words... It's more profitable to know, rather than not to, right?"**_ _  
  
"Then... Are you going to teach me how to do this?"  
  
__**"Of course I will.**_ _ **I'm more like a big brother anyway**_ _ **."**_ _  
  
"... __That's kinda annoying."  
  
__**"Shut up."**_ _  
  
Aoba chuckled at that. Noiz didn't notice he was smiling at th_ _e_ _sound._  
  
  
  
That was... Why did he just remember that?

 

  
"God damn you, Aoba," Noiz muttered as he stuffed the rest of the food in the bags, deciding to leave it for when he returned to Clear. "You better not be dead, or I'm so gonna bring you back so I can kill you again." Noiz got up from the bench he was seated on and started walking back to the house.

 

  
_Clear._ That was another name that popped into his mind as soon as he started walking. His brain instantly recalled that semi-dark room back at Glitter, with all the computer screens lighting up the place as much as they could, and a weary, sleeping figure lying on the bed, wrapped up in bandages. Noiz's heart had sunk to his stomach when he saw Clear falling apart when Aoba dragged him through the front door, yet back then he didn't really understand just _why_ he was feeling that way. Or why he was so hellbent on fixing Clear, despite the fact that he had little to no materials to do his job properly. He was determined to fix that android, and he would be damned if he half-assed the job while they were still in the middle of that mess. He remembers hearing the others outside – Mink's occasional footsteps up and down the stairs and hallways, the way him and Koujaku would get in a fight every time Mink insulted Aoba or tried hurting him, and even those last few hours before Koujaku walked out and never came back. _The day it all went to hell._ Noiz sighed and tried to shake off the memories, but there was one that was too persistent and remained.  
  
  
  
_**"...Noiz-san..."  
  
**__"Already awake, I see."  
  
__**"I... Is Aoba-san okay?"  
  
**__"He's good. He's downstairs with his boyfriend."  
  
__**"Ah...**_ _ **Wait, boyfriend?**_ _ **"  
  
**__"How are you feeling, Clear? Anything that seems off?"  
  
__**"...I'm... I'm good, I think."  
  
**__"You sure? Because your readings are wobbly, at best."  
  
__**"I'm fine, Noiz-san."  
  
**__Noiz's heart had skipped a beat when he saw that small, reassuring smile on Clear's face.  
  
__**"Are you okay?"  
  
**__"Huh?"  
  
__**"You... have bags under your eyes. That means you haven't slept."  
  
**__"Don't concern yourself with me. Just rest and let me do the rest."  
  
__**"...Okay."  
  
**__"Good."  
  
__**"Take**_ _ **care**_ _ **of yourself too, alright?"  
  
**__Noiz didn't know how to respond to that, so he just kept working.  
  
  
  
_ He still didn't know how he was supposed to respond to that. It was true that he neglected his own well-being in order to bring Clear back in fighting shape, but the more time passed, the more lightheaded and dizzy he got, passing out from time to time and barely eating anything. Hell, he even seemed to forget he was hungry in the first place. There was just something about Clear that Noiz couldn't quite put his finger on, but that drew him in nonetheless, that made Noiz want to be by Clear's side and protect him. Up until half an hour ago he was able to ignore it, to some degree. _Then I kissed him._ He really did that. And Clear's expression was priceless, if anything, which left Noiz with a sense of satisfaction and a warm feeling swelling up in his chest. He would definitely not admit to the butterflies in his stomach, though. Nope. Nothing to see here.

 

  
"It was just to shut him up anyway," he muttered under his breath, walking into one of the back alleys, deciding to use that as a shortcut back to Pontus.

 

  
And, at that moment, he wished he had just stayed on Main Street.

 

  
"You assholes again, huh?" he murmured under his breath, dropping the bag of food to the ground as he watched the hooded figures walk out of the shadows.

 

  
It was them again, the ones that he had gotten into a fight with way back when him and Aoba were walking the same streets. That time Aoba had rushed in to diffuse the situation. But now, he was on his own. Noiz's eyes widened when he saw their lifeless eyes, but he reminded himself that it was either do or die at this point. If he turned back and ran then he'd stir everyone up, maybe even catch Toue's attention, and he didn't really want that right now. Or ever, really. Noiz quickly put on his brass knuckles and took a fighting stance, figuring it was best to retaliate while he still had the upper hand. When the first guy came swinging at him Noiz easily ducked underneath the punch, and in turn swung at the other man's stomach, quickly making him double over. It made it easier for Noiz to push him out of the way and get to the other guys. It still felt weird fighting like this, Noiz thought as he tripped his next opponent before giving him a kick to the head for good measure, with his body feeling the pain from each punch he landed and each hit it took. But it was still as easy as before, oddly enough, even though this time around Noiz would have to deal with the pain from his wounds instead of just walking it off like he used to before.

 

  
"Hold him," one of the men spoke up, and that distracted Noiz long enough for one of them to land a kick in his stomach and send him stumbling backwards.

 

  
_What the fuck. They talk?_ On one hand Noiz was shocked, but on the other he figured that they were still humans and not some animals incapable of speech. But he's never heard anyone speak while under the effects of Dye Music, with Mizuki being the exception, since he was obviously affected by something else. But he didn't have time to think about that as the pain from his stomach spread up to his chest and shoulders, knocking the air out of his lungs and making him double over as he wheezed and tried to regain his senses. _Not good. Not good._ Before he could look up again, he felt pain explode in the left side of his face as a fist collided with it, sending him stumbling sideways a few steps before he fell to the ground. _Pull yourself together, Wilhelm_ , he internally scolded himself, and as soon as he felt two pairs of hands grab him by the shoulders, he instantly shot up and lunged himself at the third person, the one that was observing it all and was standing right in front of Noiz. _Idiot._ The man was caught off guard as Noiz wrapped his arms around his waist and tackled him, after which he quickly stood up, barely dodging another incoming attack from behind him.

 

  
And then he saw it.

 

_White masks. It's them.  
_

 

It felt like time had slowed down as the only sound that filled his ears was the wild beating of his heart; he was sweating from the fight, and for a moment he felt the cold wave of dread wash over him as the two very familiar figures stepped into the alley.

 

"Look at this, brother," the first one spoke, and right at that moment the hooded men stopped their assault. "It seems that there are still those that resist."

 

"It seems like it, indeed," the second one confirmed with a slight nod of his head.

 

What made it even creepier was that Noiz couldn't see their faces, besides the constant smiles on their masks. _Fuck. I'm so fucked._ Noiz took a step back, shooting a quick glance behind him to check if he had an opening, but his way was blocked by one of the men in hoods. _Fuck.  
_

 

"Be a good boy and stay still," the Alpha said, taking a step forward.

 

Noiz's muscles were taut, his thoughts were all over the place, and the constant feeling of having fucked up kept looming over him like a dark shadow. He knew there was no way out, and that Clear would have to do this all on his own. _God fucking dammit. I_ _'m not going down like this. Not when Clear is waiting for me, and those two idiots are stuck in that tower._ It was his only reason to try and stay sane right now. To mentally prepare himself as the first Alpha opened his mouth to start singing. To do his best and try to block out the song, pressing the palms of his hands to his ears, shutting his eyes and focusing with all his might on one person – Clear. How he'd sing Noiz to sleep whenever he woke up from a nightmare, or just hum his song under his breath while doing chores around the house, or how he'd always have that kind smile on his face whenever he talked to Noiz, or how his eyes would light up at the mere mention of his love for jellyfish.

 

_If... If they win, then I might end up hurting him.  
_

 

No.

 

No, he wasn't going to let that happen. He knew that it was unrealistic, that his mind would soon cave in, but a part of him still held on to the belief that he'd resist the Dye Music, even as it clawed at his mind, his body; merciless, making him fall to his knees and grit his teeth in pain. His entire body was burning up, as if it was on fire, and his mind felt like it was slowly melting away. _Not... like this...  
_

 

"Leave him alone."

 

The song stopped, and the pain slowly disappeared. A new melody drifted through the air this time around, and this one was more soothing, more gentle, and Noiz instantly recognized it. A choked gasp, barely audible, escaped his lips as the realization hit him and he slowly opened his eyes to look up at the figure that was now standing protectively between him and the first Alpha.

 

_Clear._


	16. Disappear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba regains control. It is short-lived and more agonizing than he thought it would be.

 

 

 _ **Old Residential District** _ **  
** _ **Seragaki Household** _ **  
** _ **2 years ago** _

_"I wonder what we'll be having for dinner tonight," Aoba thought out loud as he approached the front door and slid it open._

 

_"Meat and potato stew!"_

 

_That was definitely not the voice Aoba expected to hear, nor the face he expected to see, the moment he stepped foot inside his home. He expected to hear the sound of Granny cooking coming from the kitchen, not... this. His breath got stuck in his throat, and he slowly studied the person standing before him._

 

_"Welcome home," the man said, flashing Aoba a bright grin. "Sorry for the intrusion."_

 

_That awkward smile. The striking red eyes. The kimono. And..._

 

_"Hello, Beni," Ren said, wagging his tail, his head poking out of Aoba's bag ._

 

_"Yo, Ren," Beni shot back, leaning forward a bit from where he was perched at his master's shoulder._

 

_That master being none other than Koujaku himself._

 

 _Aoba was speechless. And probably as white as a sheet. His heart was about to burst out of his chest._ _Koujaku was here. He was really here. He had returned after being on the Mainland all those years, and Aoba wasn't sure whether he wanted to hug Koujaku or kick the shit out of him right now._

 

_"Don't just stand on the doorway!" Tae-san shouted from the kitchen, turning both men's attention to her. "If you're going to talk, then talk inside."_

 

_"Right," Aoba said, dumbfounded, and they both walked into the kitchen._

 

_Koujaku was here. Smiling brightly as always, looking carefree, yet something was... different. He hadn't changed much, Aoba noticed, at least not in regards to height – he was always taller than Aoba anyway – but... those scars. They weren't there before. Nor was his hair styled like that, but Aoba guessed that Koujaku had decided to change up his style a bit. Still, it was a bit odd to walk around with half your face covered like that, right? And his kimono had interesting patterns on it – sparrows, flower petals, blue leaves..._

 

 _"Look at how tall and handsome you've become!" Koujaku's loud voice snapped Aoba out of his thoughts,_ _and two hands gripped his shoulders firmly. "I still remember how small and cute you used to be," he teased, and Aoba felt heat rush up to his cheeks._

 

 _"S-shut up!" He stammered, ducking his head and trying to wriggle out of Koujaku's grasp, but the latter just laughed and_ _pulled Aoba in towards his chest in a crushing hug. "L-let go! Kou- Koujaku!"_

 

_Aoba's voice was muffled, and he was probably having some difficulty breathing, but this... felt nice. It felt good. Even if he was getting the urge to kick Koujaku in the stomach. But he just went limp, heaving a sigh of defeat, and felt the vibrations of his friend's laugh, his chest rising and falling, and his warmth wrapping Aoba up protectively._

 

 _This. This is what Aoba missed, and he hadn't even realized it up until just now. Koujaku, his hero,_ _his childhood friend,_ _teasing him and joking around_ _with him. Yeah, it felt... good. Almost like..._

 

 _"Sit down,_ _you two, the food is ready,_ _" Tae-san's voice broke Aoba's train of thought, and_ _both men quickly obliged._

 

_"I guess I'll be seeing you around from now on, Aoba," Koujaku smiled after they started eating._

 

 _Aoba felt a light blush rise to his cheeks as he ducked his head and gave a_ _low_ _hum of agreement_ _._

 

 

 

******_Oval Tower_**  
_**Dungeons**_  
_**Present Day**_

 

"Kou... jaku... Ah!"

 

Shiroba arched his back off the ground when Koujaku thrusted a little too hard, but it still felt good. His entire body was trembling with pleasure, and his hands gently cupped Koujaku's face. And yet, somewhere deep inside of Shiroba's chest, a dull ache throbbed. He wasn't sure why he was remembering the day Koujaku returned from the Mainland, but he was damn sure it was the other Aoba's doing. _No, I'm not letting you win._ _Not anymore, Aoba._

 

And still the feeling overpowered him. Aoba was still in there, fighting back as much as he could, even if it never ended in his favor. Shiroba tried to laugh it off, to drown Aoba out, but there were tears in Shiroba's eyes, and soon enough the pleasure turned to a numb pain, and he turned his head from side to side, his hands falling from Koujaku's face and pushing at his shoulders.

 

_**I'm back. I'm really back.** _

 

Aoba's mind was racing, his heart was about to beat out of his chest, and his arms strained against Koujaku's weight moving on top of him. Small gasps and choked moans escaped unwillingly through Aoba's parted lips, and it made him feel _sick_. He didn't want it like this. Not when both him and Koujaku had lost themselves to their insanity and kept hurting each other.

 

"Koujaku...," Aoba muttered, still trying to push him away. "Get... _off_... Get off me!" He shoved at Koujaku again, but it was only a short-lived victory.

 

Aoba thought he could crawl back and away from Koujaku the moment the latter stumbled backwards a bit, but found that reality had other plans. Choked sobs and pleas escaped Aoba's dry lips as he, now weak, kept pushing at Koujaku's shoulders. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and he slowly felt his consciousness fade once again.

 

_Change with me._

 

Aoba shut his eyes, trying to block out the horrid things happening right now, and let the tears fall freely from his eyes while Koujaku kept rocking into him, growling and panting like some kind of beast. Aoba didn't want this. The bitter reminder of his failure with Scrap was before his very own eyes, around him and inside his mind, and he didn't want to look at it anymore. There was no use in fighting back, because _he_ kept winning. _He_ kept overpowering Aoba's consciousness, drowning him in darkness. So Aoba tried to block out the sound of Koujaku's breaths on his ear, the feeling of his body on top of Aoba's, and the ache in his heart.

 

Moments before he went under, he heard only two words:

 

_Disappear, Aoba._

 


	17. Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This might be their last day of normalcy, so Tae-san makes sure she spends it with a smile. Ren and Beni help out.

 

 

 _ **Old Residential District** _ **  
** _ **Clear's House** _ **  
** _ **17:55** _ _ **PM** _  
  
"Tae-san, are you feeling well?" Ren asked, lightly touching his wet nose to her cheek.

  
Tae only let out a long, soft breath, closing her eyes and staying like that for awhile.

  
"Ren...," she started, voice gentnle, brows knitted together in thought, eyes still closed. "Do you remember when Aoba f ixed you?" Her eyes slowly opened, moving to look down at the blue ball of fur in her arms.

  
"I do," Ren said, wagging his tail a few times. "Why do you ask, Tae-san?"

  
"You... really helped him, you know?" she murmured, and Ren tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "You brought him back when he wasn't himself."

  
"I...," Ren began, but quickly trailed off. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. _  
_

  
"He... he's still alive," Tae said, but felt like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince the two Allmates sitting in her lap. "Koujaku, too."

  
"Of course he is!" Beni chimed in, puffing his feathers out. "He's not one to die so easily!"

 

"It has been a year already, Beni," Ren reminded him, but Beni just pecked his head in annoyance.

 

"Shut up!" Ren winced at the assault on his head, but remained silent. "They can't be dead, you stupid!"

 

"Of... Of course," Ren finally sighed, closing his eyes and waiting for the pain in his head to stop.

 

Tae just gave them a weak smile before a soft sigh escaped her lips. She looked out the window, furrowing her brows, and the three of them remained in silence for a few moments. Beni cleaned his feathers while Ren nudged Tae's hand with his nose, closing his eyes when he felt it move to pet his head.

 

"I wonder what Toue has done to him," Tae spoke up again after a short silence, turning both Allmates' attentions to her. "Or to Koujaku." Beni raised his head at the mention of his master's name.

 

Tae looked down at them, worry creasing her brow.

 

"I hope he hasn't used Aoba in any experiments," she said, trying to hard to keep her voice from cracking. "I hope he hasn't killed Koujaku, either. But-" she closed her eyes again, and Ren noticed that she was trying to fight back tears. "-all we can do is wait," she finally said, sounding resigned, and the tension in he shoulders slowly faded.

 

The worry and fear remained, naturally, but what else could Tae do? Sit here all day and weep for what could have been? No, she couldn't do that. _Aoba promised he'd return. He might have been stupid, but at least he never broke a promise like that._ And, honestly, that thought alone is what kept her going throughout the day as she finally gathered enough strength to get up, clean up the room she was sleeping in for the past few days, go downstairs and cook something.

 

For now, any semblance of normalcy would be enough to distract her, even if a little bit. Ren and Beni were doing their part, too, with Beni cracking jokes, taking out the trash and carrying things around, while Ren helped out Tae with things like folding clothes and dressing the bed.

 

Well, that last one was a mess, but at least he got to see Tae-san laugh. And that was a rare sight, so he wanted to treasure it, since it was the first time he's ever seen her smile like that. No matter what happens in the next few days – whether Clear and Noiz end up dying, or worse, – Ren would always treasure this brief moment of happiness on Tae-san's face, or how she scolded Beni for always landing on the covers while she was fixing them.

 

 _Beni and I may be rendered non-functional soon_ , he thought as he looked at the two. _But, at least today, we managed to make her smile._


	18. Lips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are calm. For now.

_**Platinum Jail**_  
_**Ponuts House** _   
_**19:00 PM** _

 

Noiz chuckled weakly, and Clear looked down at him. "How'd you know I'd be there?" he asked, looking back up at him.

 

  
"I heard you fighting," Clear said as they walked through the front door and he led Noiz to the couch, helping him sit down. "Then I heard... _their_ voices," he said, shuddering at the mere mention of his Alpha brother.

 

 

Noiz furrowed his brows in what Clear assumed was confusion, then cast a quick look at the front door – it had clicked shut and there was no way anyone would be coming for them so soon, but both men were still on edge. On the way back Clear took him through the back alleys in order to avoid getting too much attention, and Noiz answered his incessant questions like: " _are you okay?_ ", " _does it hurt too much?_ ", " _but are you sure you're alright?_ ", and, last but not least, " _why did you have to get in a fight with them?!_ ".

 

  
"I thought you could only hear Aoba's voice," he murmured, arching a brow as he shot Clear a questioning look.

 

  
"I can hear pretty much everything," Clear said as he placed the creepy mask on the table and started shrugging off the top of his outfit. Noiz realized that Clear's actual clothes were sitting on the other couch. "I choose to ignore it, though. But...," he trailed off, his eyes flicking down to the floor for a brief moment, holding the white piece of clothing in his hands, before he looked up again. "You're right. I _am_ programmed to hear Master's voice more clearly than anything else," he explained, then neatly folded the Alpha clothing and turned around to face Noiz again.

 

Noiz seemed surprised that the thing had an undershirt, too. And it was sticking way too much to Clear's torso, outlining every curve and muscle, and soon enough Clear realized that Noiz was staring for a second too long. _Why is he looking at me? Do I have something on my shirt?_ Confused, Clear looked down at himself, but found nothing that would've possibly caught Noiz's attention like that. Besides, he never did mention a stain on the outfit or anything, so why was he- Oh. _Oh._ Clear felt his heart skip a beat as realization dawned on him.

 

  
"So... What you're saying is you tuned in on my voice only?" Noiz suddenly asked, and Clear's brows furrowed slightly as the lightest shade of pink appeared on his cheeks.

 

  
"O-of course!" Clear stuttered, and a small smile tugged at the younger man's lips at the sight. "We are in Platinum Jail, and Noiz-san walked out on his own, after all!" He sputtered out, furiously fumbling with one of the buckles on his pants.

 

Noiz was chuckling now, and Clear really wanted the ground to just open up and swallow him. _Why do I feel like this? I always trip over my words, even more when I see him smile. What is this?_ Clear's mind and heart were both racing, and he felt his chest heave with each breath he took - albeit with some difficulty, as if a lump was stuck in his throat, - as blood rushed to his cheeks and tinted them red.

 

"Let me check your wounds, Noiz-san," Clear said after he regained his composure, going over to grab the first aid kit. He placed it on the coffee table and sat down next to Noiz, carefully taking off his beanie, and then the bandages on his hands.

 

"It _does_ hurt now," Noiz said with a weak chuckle, and Clear found himself smiling at that. "I'm kicking his ass when I see him. It's official." Noiz nodded his head, and Clear wasn't sure if Noiz was muttering that to himself or saying it to him, but he knew who Noiz was talking about.

 

"It's not so bad, Noiz-san," Clear assured him as he gently placed his fingers on Noiz's chin and moved his head a bit to the side, wincing at the state of Noiz's cheek after it had endured those hits. "It's swollen, but it's not bad," he said, and started working.

 

The whole time Clear could feel and _see_ that Noiz's green eyes were following his every movement - from cleaning the cuts, to gently holding his hands while he wrapped the clean bandages around them, and then, finally, asking Noiz to take his shirt off so Clear could make sure that there were no serious injuries on his ribs or anything. Noiz just arched a brow at the request, but then he followed it and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, then tossed it aside and proceeded to remove his undershirt. Clear noticed that Noiz's moves were slow and somewhat infuriating to look at, making the white-haired man more and more impatient to just _get his work done and look at Noiz's injuries._ It never occurred to him _why_ Noiz was doing that, but the sight under his shirt really did leave Clear stunned for a few moments. _Not now, Clear. Not now._ He kept repeating that over and over inside his head, but it became increasingly difficult to focus as he placed his fingers carefully on Noiz's chest and started pressing them in on different areas, his pink eyes flicking up to Noiz's face from time to time, feeling that same fluttering in his stomach every time their eyes met, waiting for any kind of reaction that would indicate something was broken. But Noiz didn't let out more than a hiss when Clear pressed his fingers on a large, purple spot near Noiz's waist, and the rest of his body was just littered with scratches and more purple spots, yet nothing was broken.

 

A wave of relief washed over Clear and he let out a breath, looking back up at Noiz again, a smile on his lips.

 

"Nothing's broken, Noiz-san," he said, yet Noiz just kept looking at him. "You're fine," Clear continued, and soon felt the familiar flutter at the pit of his stomach, so he quickly averted his eyes and moved his hands away from Noiz's body.

 

Something gripped his wrist, stopping him in his movements, but the hold wasn't too tight or even painful. It didn't hurt at all. It was just... surprising. Clear couldn't bite back the gasp that escaped his lips as he turned his head to look back at Noiz again.

 

"W-what's wrong, Noiz-san?" he asked, a bit embarrassed at how shaky his voice was.

 

But Noiz didn't respond. Shifting sideways, he looked at Clear, his beautiful green eyes drawing him in more than he wanted to admit.  _What is this? What is he doing?_ But Clear knew what was coming, he felt it, and glanced away, trying to ignore the fact that his face was heating up and that Noiz was leaning in closer. Finally, after gathering enough courage, Clear shyly looked back at him. Noiz's other hand reached under Clear's hair, right under the ear, his thumb caressing Clear's cheek.

 

"Uh... uhm...," Clear stuttered, unsure what else he could possibly say. He was honestly, entirely, completely dumbfounded right now, staring into Noiz's green eyes and wondering just what was going on inside his head. "N-Noiz-san...," he nearly whimpered when he felt Noiz pull Clear's head towards his.

 

Clear didn't even resist. His entire body was completely at Noiz's mercy right now.

 

And, just like that, Clear could _see_ him this time, his eyes revealing more than his words could ever express, and he finally felt like he _understood_. The first time this happened it was so sudden and out of left field that Clear had a hard time recovering from the shock and confusion and the giddy feeling that followed those two things. Calming down his racing mind was even harder to achieve, as many scenarios flew by it, and they all involved Noiz in one way or another. Something had stirred inside of Clear when Noiz kissed him, and for a moment he wondered if Noiz thought about that kiss in any other way, or just as another one of his weird methods to 'shut people up'. Clear noticed  that Noiz's eyes seemed to flicker from one pink eye to the next, then drop their gaze down to the curve of Clear's parted lips, and this action alone made Clear blush even harder. _Why am I even feeling like this right now?! What is he doing to me?_

 

Clear felt their hot breaths mingle, and a shiver ran down his spine as he was pulled in closer and closer to Noiz. He could feel his heart flutter as Noiz drew him to his lips, pressing them together, soft and gentle, a butterfly kiss of sorts. It still sent sparks exploding inside Clear's chest and his head spinning, his stomach fluttering with a thousand, well, _butterflies._ It was slow and careful, comforting in ways that words would never be. Noiz's hand rested below Clear's ear, his thumb caressing the latter's cheek as their breaths mingled.

 

And, just like that, the moment soon came to an end.

 

"Hey," Noiz whispered after he pulled away, yet their faces were still inches apart from each other; startling Clear a bit, who quickly swallowed through the lump in his throat. God, it was so dry, his palms were sweaty, and his mind and heart were literally going a mile a minute. "There you are," he said, and for a moment Clear felt light-headed.

 

Clear felt like someone just splashed him with a bucket of ice-cold water, and all color quickly drained from his face. Then, Noiz leaned back, moving his hand away from Clear's face, now holding one of his cube-shaped bunny Allmates in that same hand that held Clear's face so tenderly and... _intimately_ , just mere seconds ago.

 

"Wh-what...," Clear stuttered, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and he just watched Noiz in silence as the latter got up, grabbed his clothes and goddamn _winked_ at Clear. "Noiz... san...," he mumbled, watching the other man as he walked around the coffee table and leisurely made his way to the bathroom, asking his Allmate questions about the data they had on Oval Tower.

 

Clear was left sitting on the couch, flustered and flushed, his mind going a mile a _second_ , trying to figure out what the hell just happened.


	19. Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei sets his plan in motion.

  
  
_**Platinum Jail**_  
_**Oval Tower**_  
_**1 Year Ago**_  
  
_"Rise and shine, Sei-san" Virus' sickeningly sweet voice rang in his ears, startling Sei out of his slumber. "Toue called for you."_

 

_Great._

 

_"Chop-chop, Sei" Trip chimed in, and Sei strongly wished he was anywhere else but here._

 

_"Ah, but look at him, Trip," Virus spoke up again, and Sei slightly furrowed his brows, his eyes still closed. "Welter and Hersha have taken a strong liking to Sei-san, it seems."_

 

_Sei's blood froze for a moment, but then he remembered where he was. Right. He passed out, but the last thing he saw was a black lion moving towards him right as the ground rushed up to meet Sei. And now he could feel the large Allmate's soft fur against his cheek, his entire body, and realized that he was curled against the large animal. A low hiss sounded from nearby, and soon enough Sei felt something slither away from his leg. Hersha._

 

_Someone's Coil rang._

 

_"Huh? This is odd," Trip commented, and Sei assumed it was his Coil ringing._

 

_"It is, indeed," Virus agreed, and then silence fell._

 

_What was going on? Sei had a bad feeling about this. The room went eerily quiet all of a sudden, and a brief thought flickered through Sei's mind - disconnect. Spread out. Check the source of the apparent problem. But then Virus spoke up again, and bile rose to the back of Sei's throat. He was lightheaded, feeling like he was floating, like all of this was some kind of sick joke._

 

_"Aoba-san and Koujaku-san have been... captured."_

 

_No. No, no, no, no! This can't be real. His brother and Koujaku were supposed to get out of here alive and well! What went wrong? Did Aoba... mess up with Scrap? Oh, God..._

 

_"Koujaku-san has been taken to the dungeons, while Aoba-san is in Toue's office," Trip said, and Sei felt anger burn in his chest._

 

_This is the first time he's felt angry. Ticked off, annoyed, inconvenienced, all those small emotions used to flicker in and out of existence in Sei's experience. But this? This was awful. And he suspected the twins were saying all of this out loud just to mock him._

 

_"Ao... Aoba...," he croaked out, slowly forcing his heavy eyes to open._

 

_"My, my, look who's awake," Virus spoke in a sing-song voice, which made Sei's desire to throw up even stronger._

 

_"Brother... Brother!"_

 

_The duo looked at him, eyes wide in surprise. It was probably the first time they were unable to react fast enough as Sei, albeit a bit unsteady, stood on his feet and looked up at the two men._

 

_"His eyes...," Virus whispered, obviously dumbfounded, while Trip looked like he was at a complete loss for words._

 

_Sei's eyes were glowing, bright and an interesting shade of dark purple, and a frown framed his usually expressionless face. He wasn't sure where the strength to stand up like this was coming from, but he didn't really have time to stop and question it. Aoba was in danger, so he had to do something. Fast._

 

_"Aoba! Aoba!"_

 

_His voice was loud, clear and strong. Something it has never been before, and it even caught Sei himself off guard, causing the name he was calling out to catch in his throat as he stumbled over his own two feet and swayed a bit. Two pairs of hands grabbed him from each side, but Sei struggled, unyielding. He tried to shove them away, and even felt the men stumble forward after him as Sei started taking steps forward again._

 

_"Sei-san, please," Virus called out, trying to take control of the situation. "Any more strain on your heart will be fatal."_

 

_He was right. Sei's heart was beating wildly, almost threatening to jump out of his chest, and his entire body broke out in a cold sweat, yet he refused to stop moving. If he died while trying to save his brother, then so be it. Death was much more preferable to this joke called life._

 

_"Let... me... go!" He struggled against Virus and Trip, doing his best to thrash around and make it even harder for them to hold him down._

 

_It worked._

 

_"Sei-san!" Virus shouted at him, but it was already too late._

 

 _Even if Sei's entire body hurt, even if his heart was screaming for rest, he still kept walking. He went down the halls, knowing them like the back of his hand, and every time a guard or worker tried stopping him, all Sei needed to do was shoot them a glare and render them immobile. His power might be about creating things, but it was also pretty effective in mind control, too. So, all he had to do was_ create  _the irresistible need to stand still whenever Sei looked at his victim. Darkness was creeping at the edges of his vision, but Sei refused to back down. His entire body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, he was probably paler than usual, and his knees felt like they were going to give out from underneath him any minute now, yet he kept walking._

 

_"... and that is all you need to know, Aoba."_

 

_Sei stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide as he looked in the direction of the voices._

 

_"Thank you, Toue," another voice replied, this one sounding much more jovial, yet in a somehow terrifyingly twisted way._

 

_"I'll leave you alone, then."_

 

_Aoba. His brother. He was right there, right around the corner. Sei's pace increased, and he could hear Aoba's footsteps moving in Sei's direction. Good, Sei thought. This was going to be his chance to finally meet his brother and, hopefully, save him from whatever had just occurred. But, to put it mildly, he was definitely not prepared for the sight that appeared before him the moment he rounded the corner of the hallway._

 

_"Ah, brother," Aoba said, a thin, cold smile on his colorless lips._

 

_The smile never reached his colorless eyes, either._

 

_"... Brother?" Sei choked out, unable to keep his balance as he took a shaky step backwards, his mind racing. "Aoba?"_

 

_"That's me," he said, but Sei knew._

 

_"No... No," Sei shook his head, and suddenly started feeling nauseous._

 

_Sei's breathing became labored, spots danced in his field of vision, and he could barely make out the person standing in front of him anymore. He could only see a splash of white, with a few red spots adorning it here and there, but that image was getting blurrier and blurrier with each passing second. Aoba seemed to be speaking, but Sei couldn't understand the words, hearing them as if they were coming from underwater. The last thing he remembers, before the ground rushed up to meet him, was the feeling of a hand gently cupping his cheek._

 

 

**_Platinum Jail_**  
**_Oval Tower_**  
_**Present Day (06:00 AM)**_  
  
  
" _Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please. Due to circumstances beyond our control it has become necessary to evacuate the building. Please, leave the building immediately by the nearest exit. Do not use the elevators._ "

 

A small smirk appeared on Sei's lips. His test tube was quickly drained from the water it contained, and the wires and tubes attached to him quickly released him with a low hissing sound. Sei's body was so weak that at first he could barely keep his face from hitting the ground, his arms bending under his weight and his knees buckling. His head was hung low, the alarm blaring in his ears, and the sound of panicked workers sounding just outside the doors of his dark room. _Good. I did it._ He didn't want to kill anyone if he could avoid it, that's why he sent out the evacuation order, but he would be lying if he said that a lot of the people in this tower didn't deserve it. Still, his heart was too kind. He sent out the evacuation order. A part of him hoped that everyone would get out of here. _Except Toue. I don't hate him, but I don't want him to live, either. Does it even make any sense?_

 

"Hurry up, he's in here," a voice sounded right outside the doors.

 

"Sei-san!" another one called out as he swung said doors open.

 

Sei knew it wasn't Aoba. The voices belonged to a man and a woman, and the man's voice was way too deep to be his brother's. They were guards, most likely brought here under Toue's orders to get Sei out. _No. I'm not going anywhere._ Sei still had some strength in him, he realized, and it was probably thanks to Virus and Trip's recent 'experiments' on him. They did partially get rid of Sei's paleness and completely removed his markings, his hair was slowly reverting to its previous length and color, and his heart was beating normally. _It's been forever. I guess I should thank them for that, at least._ But the bitter taste remained in his throat. Whatever it was, it was definitely making him thinking more clearly and stopping the voices, his consciousnesses, from fighting for dominance in his head. Maybe it was some sort of drug? They probably knew how much Sei despised needles, but what they did was even worse.

 

"Come with us, Sei-san," the woman said as she approached him and reached out to grab his arm.

 

"I'll cover you two," the man said, and the woman nodded.

 

"No." It was the only word Sei uttered.

 

"We must go," the woman guard insisted, grabbing Sei by the arm and pulling him along.

 

" _No!_ " Sei yelled, stopping both guards in their tracks.

 

And, just when they turned around to look at him, Sei felt something inside of him shift. He felt... strong. In control. He's used his power before, but the feeling of doing it was never _this_ overwhelming. He looked up at the guards and saw his own reflection in their helmets - his eyes were glowing. All he had to do was make them leave him. Create the illusion that he didn't need them. So he focused on that, clenching his fists at his sides as he did so. _I will be fine. You can leave me alone. I can handle myself._ He hoped this would work. Usually he used his power to subdue people and make them revere and follow Toue, so this should be no different. Except, well, now they would follow Sei, not that power-hungry madman. _What is going on? Where are these thoughts coming from?_ Sei was somewhat surprised at himself for all the thoughts that raced through his mind as he rushed out of the lab room and headed down the hallway, ignoring the panicking people. In all honesty, his brain couldn't even register just _how_ he was walking without a problem, when just a day earlier he was being pushed around on a wheelchair; yet his muscles felt strong, his heart was beating steadily, and his mind was clearer than ever. This was... _exhilarating_.

 

"Sei-san! You shouldn't be in here!"

 

Who was that? Sei didn't really manage to get a good look before a piece of debris fell on the person in question, but as he passed them by, Sei noticed that it was actually a woman wearing black clothes. The Morphine tattoo on her neck told Sei everything he needed to know. But just as he was about to start walking again, a painfully familiar voice sounded from down the hallway, loud and clear, drowning out the blaring evacuation alarm.

 

"Koujaku! Koujaku, come on. It's this way!"

 

_Brother._

 

Sei hurried in the direction of the voice, hearing another, deeper one replying to his twin brother's words:

 

"This isn't looking good for- Aoba, look out!"

 

"Koujaku!"

 

Just at that moment Sei rounded the corner and his eyes landed on the pair. Koujaku was going all out on a guard, shoving him against the cracked white wall and knocking him out, while Aoba tried to pull him away and get him to goddamn _move_. Sei's breath was knocked out of his lungs when he took in their appearance - Koujaku's hair was mostly back to its normal color, but the tips were tinted in a bloody red, while the flowers on his back and arm were still half-open. His eyes looked... normal. And Aoba's hair was a pale blue color, while his eyes were barely starting to get their hazel color back. His skin... wasn't white anymore.

 

"Aoba," he called out, unable to stop himself from smiling, nor his feet from taking him to his brother.

 

He wasn't expecting Koujaku to step forward, grab him by the front of his shirt and lift him up in the air, teeth bared and clenched, and his brows furrowed in anger.


	20. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their plan is complete, but some things should not be left unsaid.

  
  
_**Platinum Jail**_  
_**Pontus House**_  
_**10 Hours Earlier**_  
  
  
The water from the shower head fell on his lean back, washing off the bubbles from the soap that had accumulated on it. His back was slightly hunched, his head hung low, and his eyes fixed on a small spot on the wet tiles. His mind was all over the place, his anxiety and fears eating him up from the inside as he recalled what had just transpired in the living area. _I kissed him. Again._ He really did. And, unlike the first time, this one felt different. More... real. Noiz had to admit he also did it out of curiosity, wondering if those butterflies in his stomach were real, and if he had been interpreting Clear's behavior correctly. _He was always on Aoba's ass about safety and all that stuff_ , Noiz thought as he tilted his head back and just let the water wash off whatever traces of shampoo were left in his short hair. _But we spent like, what, nearly two weeks together? And he's been... different around me_.

 

"You're overthinking it, asshole," Noiz muttered at himself as he brought his hands up to his hair and started to roughly rub at his own scalp, trying to get his mind back on track by using pain as stimuli. "Clear's a nice guy. Of course he'd be all over your ass about being safe, too," he continued, nodding his head as he spoke; trying to convince himself through words rather than through thoughts.

 

 _I have seen him staring a bit too long, or acting way too flustered around me. Hell, even Aoba never got that kind of reaction from Clear._ But what did all of that mean? Was Clear too intimidated by Noiz? Or was there something else? Those two times he kissed Clear seemed to point to Clear having deeper feelings than he wants to admit, especially the last one. Noiz's lips still tingle as he thinks about it, and he digs his fingers deeper, hissing at the pain in his scalp, yet his mind stayed on that memory. It kept bringing up the feeling of Clear's soft lips against his, of how Clear's entire body seemed to tense up and his face flush red - Noiz had opened his eyes to look at him during that kiss, - or how he had tried to restrain himself from leaning into the kiss first. _So he wanted to kiss me. But he didn't go for it._ Maybe that meant something. Maybe it didn't. But one thing was certain - that kiss... really did something to him.

 

"Fucking hell...," Noiz muttered, lowering his hands to his sides and clenching them in fists. "It had to happen _now_."

 

There was no running from it. All those times Noiz spent admiring Clear's face, how beautiful and soothing his voice was, how his childlike innocence was both endearing and somewhat frustrating, how that pink gaze held all the purity and kindness in the world, how warm Clear's body felt pressed against his own back when Noiz hugged him and calmed him down when he was at his lowest, worrying about his friends and crying. How the butterflies fluttered in his stomach and how he kept feeling Clear's heat throughout the entire night, and how that would force him to curl up in the corner of the bed just so he wouldn't accidentally brush up against Clear's sleeping form.

 

"I'm in love with him."

 

Clear never leaves Noiz's mind, now that the latter thinks about it. He's always there; mentally, if not physically. It's just... _incomprehensible_. He is Noiz's one stable force, his one stability in a world filled with chaos, and Noiz so desperately needs that in his life. It’s strange – frightening even – how you can go from someone being a complete stranger, to then being completely infatuated by them and wondering _how_ it ever was that you were able to live without them, because you sure as hell couldn’t imagine being without them now.

 

 _I’m in love with him, and I can’t believe I’ve only just realized it_.

 

  
_**8 Hours Earlier**_  
  
  
"Knife?"

 

"Check."

 

"Allmates?"

 

"Check- Wait, one of them is still upstairs, I think."

 

"Do you remember the plan?"

 

"I do, Noiz-san."

 

"Recap."

 

"Right now, we await further instructions from Anonymous. Then, we infiltrate Oval Tower - from what we've gathered so far, there's a back entrance, and we'll be using it."

 

"Good. Then?"

 

"If anyone asks, you've been brought for experiments."

 

"Sounds fun."

 

"I wouldn't call it fun, Noiz-san..."

 

"...You're right, Clear."

 

"Ah, your Allmate is coming down the stairs just now!"

 

"Fucking finally."

 

  
_**7 Hours Earlier**_  
  
  
"I wish I could use my actual clothes," Clear mumbled as he looked at the pile that was his brother's clothing. The mask was the creepiest part. "I don't really like the idea of walking around and being like... like _them_." He seemed to shudder at the mere thought of it.

 

 _I like you very much… just as you are._ But he couldn't say that out loud. What if it sounded weird? Noiz sighed and walked over to stand beside Clear, green eyes studying the Alpha clothes.

 

"It's a necessary evil, Clear," he reminded him.

 

"I... I know!" Clear fumbled over his words, turning his head away in slight embarrassment. "I just... wish it didn't have to go like this," he murmured, turning his head to look at Noiz.

 

Noiz, in turn, looked back at Clear, and the moment their eyes met he felt something stir in his chest. He wanted to say something, but it was stuck in the back of his throat. Clear looked like he was struggling, too, but neither of them were really making the first move here. Finally, Noiz pursed his lips and opened his mouth, ready to speak.

 

Clear seemed to have the same idea in mind.

 

"About that-"

 

"Noiz-san, I wanted to-"

 

"Uh."

 

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Noiz-san!" Clear, flustered, nearly tripped over his own tongue as he sputtered out the apology. "What did you want to say?"

 

"No, I interrupted you," Noiz countered, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Clear's concerned face.

 

But then Clear quickly regained his senses, even if his cheeks were burning red, and his pink eyes flickered all over the place before they finally landed on Noiz's green eyes. He looked shy but determined, and for a split second Noiz felt the near-irresistible urge to just grab him and-

 

"What did that kiss mean?" Clear fired out, and it caught Noiz off-guard.

 

"The kiss?" He repeated, finding himself at a loss for words. For the first goddamn time in his _lif_ e _._

 

"Earlier, on the couch," Clear reminded him, even if it wasn't really needed. _I remember it all too well._ "What... What did it mean?"

 

"Uh..."

 

"I need to know, Noiz-san!" Clear insisted, this time sounding more determined than anything else. "I keep feeling all those funny things inside me every time you look at me, and even more after you kissed me! But...," he slowly trailed off, his brows furrowing and lifting up slightly, a worried look in his pink eyes. "Is this just another game to you? What are you trying to do here, Noiz-san?" He asked, sounding like he was barely keeping his voice from breaking.

 

"It's not a game, Clear," Noiz finally said, sounding earnest, yet he still didn't show any emotion on his face. "This... is weird. I'm not good with words. So, I... like you, or whatever..."

 

"Or _whatever_?"

 

"Nobody has _ever_ made me feel the way _you_ make me feel, and that is such a crazy thing," Noiz finally blurted out, his eyes widening and his mouth clamping shut the moment the last word left his lips. _What is happening?_

 

"Noiz-san...?"

 

"It's confusing, alright?" Noiz nearly snapped, but caught himself in time. _This is not Clear's fault. Well, maybe it partly is, but... I'm the one complicating things here. I shouldn't take it out on him._ "I need to figure it out." He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair, turning around and walking off towards the stairs, trying to clear his mind.

 

A silence fell in the room, and Noiz could practically feel Clear's gaze burning into his back. _Be angry at me if you want. I've toyed with you enough._ But... that's not what happened. Where Noiz expected to hear Clear walk away or yell at him, he instead heard footsteps approaching from behind before a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, slow and careful, pulling him into a warm embrace.

 

"Clear?" Noiz asked, confused.

 

"So, did you mean it?" Clear asked, resting his head on Noiz's shoulder. _I keep forgetting he's a few inches taller than me._ "Did that kiss mean more than you let on, Noiz-san?"

 

"You really are too smart for your own good, you know that?" Noiz countered, trying to sound irritated, but couldn't stop the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

 

From the corner of his eye he saw a smile appear on Clear's lips, and a warm feeling pooled inside his chest, making his heart flutter. _Ugh. That was cheesy as fuck._

 

"I'm happy," Clear said, and it caused Noiz to arch his brow and shoot him a questioning look. "You're finally starting to understand your emotions, Noiz-san," he clarified, and Noiz widened his eyes.

 

"Alright, too much mushy stuff," he said, pulling away from the embrace and walking over to the couch to grab one of his Allmates.

 

Clear turned around to look at him, head tilted to the side slightly. Noiz was expecting him to say something, but the white-haired man just chuckled and walked over to the pile of clothes, slowly rummaging through them and rearranging them once again. It struck Noiz as odd, but then he realized that Clear must've been doing it just to stop himself from getting too giddy. _Despite everything, he's still keeping a serious demeanor for this mission. Impressive._

 

"When do we leave again?" Clear suddenly asked, startling Noiz out of his thoughts.

 

"Five in the morning," Noiz said as he made his way up the stairs. "We better get some shut-eye before that."

 

"But I don't sleep, Noiz-san," Clear reminded him, stopping Noiz in his tracks.

 

He turned around to look at Clear, a smirk on his face, one brow arched.

 

"Oh? Did you have something else in mind?" he asked, his tone low and suggestive.

 

It took a moment too long for Clear to realize what the other man was saying, but when that happened, his face instantly turned red and Noiz chuckled as he watched Clear hide his face and make shy little noises.

 

"Good night, Clear." Noiz chuckled, then made his way up the stairs and to his bedroom.

 

  
_**30 Minutes Earlier**_  
  


"Is this the right place?" Clear asked, clutching the mask a little too tight.

 

"According to whoever is leading us, then yes, this is the place," Noiz said, looking down at the monitor on his Coil. A red triangle pointer showed the location they needed to go to and, well, they happened to arrive at it just now.

 

"Oval Tower has other entrances... huh," Clear hummed to himself, looking up at the tall tower. "I was... made here," he murmured, and Noiz noticed the distant look in the other man's eyes.

 

"That may be true," Noiz said, walking over to Clear and placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you're nothing like those monsters, you hear me?" Noiz was not about to let Clear spiral down self-hatred lane right now.

 

"I... I know," Clear said, looking down at Noiz. "Thank you, Noiz-san," he said, a warm smile on his lips.

 

Noiz, probably for the first time in his life, felt himself return the smile with more ease than he's ever done before.


	21. Network

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noiz and Clear are making their move, guided by Sei's consciousness.

_"Is this it?"_

 

_"Looks like it."_

 

_"I'm nervous..."_

 

_"No going back now."_

 

_Good.  Keep walking. They're waiting for you._

 

_"Noiz-san... About the-"_

 

_"Is now really a good time to be talking about it?"_

 

_"Well, I..."_

 

_Sei observed them, silent. He saw the one called Noiz look away, furrow his brows, then let out a breath before he turned around to face the white-haired man again, this time with a softer look in his eyes._

 

_"... What do you wanna know, then?"_

 

_"I... like you, too."_

 

_That was Clear's only statement. And it held so much sincerity, so much shyness, so much fear and hope..._

 

_"Good to know."_

 

_Sei smiled. Well, he felt like smiling, anyway, since he couldn't really do it outside of his physical body. The relief in Clear's entire face, in his body language, in the breath that escaped his lips was... overwhelming. Sei could never have that. He knew he'd never hear those words directed at himself by the person he loves, if there was one. But he was okay with that; has been for years now. Knowing you could die any day worked like that, made you come to terms with the reality of things, whether you liked it or not. He just wanted to save Aoba and his friends. That's why he was here, right now, one of his many consciousnesses scourging through the network, finding its way to Noiz's Coil and giving him all the instructions and resources he's gonna need to move this plan forward. Sei observed the two men walk through the back entrance of Oval Tower, cautious and alert, closing the door behind them as they made their way down the white hallway. Sei made sure to mark a location on their map, and make Noiz's Coil untraceable, so that no one in the tower would be none the wiser about the intruders.  
_

 

_Then, when it was all said and done, Sei would die happy, buried under the rubble of the collapsed Oval Tower._


	22. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time.

  
  
  
_Together, holding hands, Aoba led them up the stairs and into what used to be a blindingly white hallway, now dyed red from the emergency lights that were illuminating the place. The main power source must have gone out, so the emergency lights automatically came on. Aoba breathed shallowly, rapidly, but his mind was clear, and he kept leading Koujaku forward, through the panicking crowd that seemed to pay them no mind, and then down the stairs._

 

**_Aoba._ **

 

_They kept running._

 

_**Aoba!**_

 

_What?_

 

_**You forgot Sei.**_

 

 

_**Platinum Jail** _   
_**Oval Tower** _   
_**07:55 AM** _

"Koujaku!" Aoba called out, eyes wide in shock as he saw the man in question lift up the person who Aoba recognized as his own twin brother. "Koujaku, put him down!"

 

Koujaku halted his actions, but didn't take his eyes off Sei. His twin, in turn, kept his eyes shut and his head turned away as he tried to wriggle out of Koujaku's strong hold on his shirt.

 

"Put him down, please," Aoba pleaded, taking a few cautious steps towards Koujaku and placing a hand on his upper arm. "That's my brother."

 

Koujaku's eyes widened. "Your _brother_?" He repeated, incredulous, but slowly set Sei down nonetheless. "Aoba, what are you-"

 

"Sei, are you alright?" Aoba rushed past Koujaku and quickly held his twin, trying to get him to look Aoba in the eyes. "Talk to me, please!"

 

_**He's been using his powers.** _

 

_How can you tell?  
_

 

**_He kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to hurt Koujaku._ **

 

Aoba's eyebrows shot up in surprise when Desire spoke those words. Was that why Sei was up and walking around? The last time Aoba saw him, it looked like Sei was knocking on death's door. But this? This was something unexpected, but it definitely made Aoba happy, even if he didn't understand it.

 

"Aoba?" Sei murmured, questioning, and looked up at his brother.

 

"It's me, Sei. I'm here," Aoba assured him, his heart pounding so loud he was pretty sure it was the loudest thing in the tower right now, besides the blaring evacuation alarm. "Look at me, please."

 

Sei blinked his eyes open, a weak breath escaping his pale lips. Aoba's breath got stuck in his throat the moment Sei looked up at him, and those captivating purple eyes looked right into his soul, his _Desire_.

 

"You're back...," Sei spoke again, and he sounded so relieved, yet so tired. "Aoba...," he whispered, a small smile appearing on his lips, eyes crinkling as he looked up at his brother. "You're back..," he repeated, blinking slowly.

 

"I'm back," Aoba repeated, still finding it hard to believe it was actually happening.

 

"Aoba!" Koujaku shouted, startling both twins out of their little moment, but before either of them could react they felt Koujaku shove them aside before lunging into an oncoming squad of three guards.

 

"Aoba," Sei called out, tugging at the sleeve of Aoba's robe weakly, yet his grip on it was stronger than Aoba had imagined it could be. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, Aoba," he mumbled, his voice breaking and tears shining in his eyes, threatening to fall out. A sob escaped him, and Aoba felt his heart break.

 

"None of this was your fault, Sei," Aoba assured him, looking up just in time to see Koujaku toss one of the guards over his shoulder, knocking him out cold. "But we need to get out of here. We can talk about this later, alright?"

 

"Aoba-"

 

"We need to move, now!" Koujaku cut Sei off and rushed over to them both, first pulling Aoba to his feet and, after him, Sei. "Where's-" he was about to ask, but suddenly Aoba saw him wince and lose his balance.

 

"Koujaku!" Aoba called out in a panic, rushing over to him and grabbing him by the arms. "Are you alright? What happened?" He asked, fear and worry lacing his voice.

 

"I- I'm not sure," Koujaku responded, looking a bit confused. His eyes were unfocused, but he was still making an attempt to look at Aoba. "There's no time for me. We need to get out of here," he reminded them, causing a cold wave of dread to wash over Aoba.

 

_The tower. It's falling apart. And we've wasted too much time._

 

"This way," Sei called out, his voice ringing loud and clear above the alarm and evacuation notice. "Exit's this way," he repeated, pointing to a black door down the hallway.

 

_A black door?_ Aoba remembers when Desire was still controlling him. He'd pass by this door many times, but never pay it much attention, even if it _did_ strike both him and his Desire as odd. The entire tower was white, both inside and out, so that door in particular was definitely an eyesore. But both he and Koujaku followed Sei to it nonetheless, trusting him to know this place like the back of his hand. _And to think that I lived sheltered while he was stuck in this hell._ But now was not the time to dwell on the past, on things that couldn't be changed. Instead he focused on getting out of here as fast as he could, on figuring out what state the world was left in, and, well... what state things between him and Koujaku were going to be in after all the events that transpired over the year.

 

At the same time, Aoba could feel a gaze burning into the back of his head.

 

_Koujaku._

 

"Elevators are out," Sei's voice brought Aoba out of his thoughts. "But we can still make it out in time," he said, and it sounded like a promise.

 

"Then let's move!" Koujaku snapped, and both men nodded their heads in agreement.

 

It was do or die at this point. Their descend down the stairs was dizzying, but they kept going, determined to get out of there. More and more rubble was starting to fall from the ceiling and the walls, and even the once strong windows began to crack. A piece of debris would have fallen on him, had it not been for Koujaku to grab him by the hand and pull him forward and away from said debris. Aoba shot him a thankful look, to which Koujaku just smiled and nodded before he continued running. _He's still holding my hand._ Aoba thought that he would've felt, well... betrayed? Angry? A lot of fucked up things happened over the course of just one year, and Koujaku was probably the one who suffered the most from it. And yet here he was, running alongside and protecting the one who betrayed him and turned him into that... _monster_.

 

"Guards!" Sei called out from where he was ahead of them. He stopped running and gestured with his arm for Koujaku and Aoba to stop as well. "I'll handle them," he said, turning around to look at the two men.

 

_His eyes_. Is he going to use Scrap on them? If that was the case, then Aoba was not about to let his brother overwork himself. He slipped his hand out of Koujaku's and covered the distance between himself and his twin brother with just a few quick, determined steps. Sei shot him a questioning look, but didn't say anything, to which Aoba was thankful.

 

"There are too many of them," Aoba said, and took a deep breath through his nose. _I need you. Please._ "Let's do this, brother."

 

"Of course," Sei said, eyes looking forward, glowing with an eerie light as he focused on the first guard.

 

"Hey! Where are you two going?!" the guard in question shouted, raising his gun and alerting his friends to the trio's presence.

 

**_I'm here, Aoba._ **

 

_Do your thing.  
_

 

Aoba closed his eyes and felt his consciousness slip into the back of his mind, giving way to his Desire. But, unlike before, this time around Aoba knew that he wouldn't suffer memory loss after using Scrap. He had accepted that part of himself, so it was only natural for him to trust it now.

 

"Get- get them...," the first guard, the one that had alerted his men, was now seemingly unstable on his own two feet, his aim faltering. "So... so pretty...," he mumbled, lowering his gun and staring at Sei, as if stuck in a trance.

 

Aoba's eyes shone a bright golden color when he opened them, and a wicked smirk played on his lips. Right at that moment two other guards looked at Sei and fell into the same trance.

 

"Nice work, brother," Desire said, and his smirk grew even bigger when he saw Sei's brow twitch nervously, probably at hearing the change in Aoba's voice.

 

"Do it."

 

That was all Sei said. He never allowed himself to get distracted, apparently, no matter what. _I can respect that._ Just then Desire looked ahead and saw that the ones that weren't under Sei's command were lunging at him, while another went around Aoba and straight for Koujaku.

 

"I don't think so," Desire muttered angrily under his breath. _Nobody touches him, you fucks!_ "Disappear!" Desire shouted, and suddenly every guard froze.

 

A wicked, cold and dark chuckle escaped Desire's lips as he watched the guards twitch involuntarily, their eyes wide open and drool coming out of their parted lips. Sei shot his brother a quick look, his eyes back to normal, but didn't say a word. Behind them Koujaku could be heard running, and soon enough both men were grabbed by the upper arms and forced to move.

 

"No time to be sitting ducks!" He growled, urging them to run faster. Neither Sei nor Desire protested. Hell, Desire was obviously _enjoying_ it. "Just one more floor to go!" he shouted as they made their way down the last flight of stairs.

 

Just as they were passing by one of the side entrances, the door to one of them suddenly swung open and nearly knocked Sei off balance, sending him to the ground. Time seemed to slow while Aoba witnessed that, and he felt something tighten inside his chest, clutch at his heart and make the blood rush to his ears. _Anger._ Out of the corner of his eye he could see Koujaku rush towards Sei, but right now Aoba was more focused on whoever opened that door. _Another guard, no doubt_ , he thought as he clenched his teeth and reached out to the first person that walked in, gripping the front of his clothes and slamming him against the wall. A loud yelp was heard beside him, and it took Aoba awhile to realize that the voice sounded... _familiar_.

 

"Ah! Aoba-san!"

 

"Mind letting me go?"

 

_The other voice, too. I know them both._

 

Finally, as Aoba's vision focused on the man he held pinned against the wall, his breath got stuck in his throat. The light freckles peppering pale skin; that messy, strawberry-blonde hair; the striking green eyes; the _piercings_. And, alongside him, was none other than the white-haired man who Aoba thought would never see standing up again.

 

"Noiz? _Clear?!_ "


	23. Morphine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ayano and Eksha put their own plan in motion, but it takes an unexpected turn.

_"Where will you two be going, then?" Mizuki had asked just as they neared the back entrance of Oval Tower, the one that led directly to the Underground._

 

_"Eksha and I are gonna try and get the other Dry Juice members," Ayano explained, but Eksha just rolled her eyes._

 

_"God only knows the state they're in, Ayano," she reminded her partner. "You can't save everyone, you know that," she reminded her._

 

_"I'm still going to try, Eksha!" Ayano snapped at her, and Mizuki just frowned at the entire display. "God dammit, they can't all be a lost cause!"_

 

_"Cut it off, for fuck's sake," Mizuki snapped at them, trying to ignore the dull throbbing in his head. "We move now or we get caught," he reminded them before he made his way over to the door and got ready to kick it in._

 

_"Hold your horses, big guy," Eksha's voice sounded from behind him, and he felt fingers wrap his upper arm, their grip unexpectedly strong as they held him in place. "Let me do this," she said, pushing him aside and taking something out of her pocket before she crouched down and started messing with the lock._

 

_It went well. At first, of course. They got in undetected, managed to avoid triggering the alarm and soon enough came to a stop before a row of cells. Inside them there were groups of up to five people, all of them in different conditions - some stood still in the center of the cell, swaying back and forth, eyes fixed on a single spot in front of them; others lay on the ground or sat with their backs against the stone walls, eyes closed and drool coming out of their mouths, and multiple needle marks peppering their arms and necks. It was a disturbing sight, but it was something that Mizuki was already used to. Hell, he used to be one of those poor idiots himself._

 

_"Go down that hallway-" Ayano explained as she pointed to a dark path leading in the opposite direction of where they came from. "-There's an exit there, as well, and it's more secure than the one we came from. We'll meet you there," Ayano told him, and Mizuki just nodded his head._

 

_As he walked down the path he was indicated, he wondered just why he was doing this. Sure, they had managed to somewhat convince him that Morphine was bad, but at the same time another part of him was trying to get him to betray them. It kept whispering to him to go find Virus and Trip, to tell them of the plan and to put a stop to it. But he didn't do that. He didn't do that because, just then, the face of a blue-haired boy flashed in his mind's eye, and a voice that he hasn't heard for a long time whispered inside his head: "Do not trust them."_

 

_Aoba. His old friend. Would he still trust Mizuki, especially after all the things that occurred over the last year?_

 

_He didn't really have time to ponder on that, because as soon as he opened the door, the voices of the two people he hoped to never cross paths with again rang out from the distance, right before all the lights went out and an explosion sounded from one of the higher floors._

 

_**Oval Tower** _   
_ **Underground** **Level** _

"Mizuki-san," a sing-song voice rang forth from the darkness, mocking him.

 

"Come out now, Mizuki-san," another voice called out, sounding a bit deeper and more malicious than anything.

 

Mizuki's heart was racing. Ayano and Eksha had split up after the alarm went off, and the tower staff were almost all evacuated. The hall he was currently in was barely lit, as the emergency lights here broke somehow and the only one that worked was at the end of the hallway and, well, it was of no help whatsoever. _This wasn't supposed to happen. They promised they'd be back by now. Where the hell are they?!_ Mizuki's mind and heart both raced at the thought that other Morphine members could have taken care of the two girls, but at the same time another side of him was cheering at the thought. _They might forgive me and accept me back into Morphine if I just explain!_ But how likely would that be? Were Virus and Trip known to be the forgiving type? Virus may be, but how long could his patience hold out before he snapped and threw Mizuki in that small, cold box again?  


"You can run-"

 

"-but you can't hide."

 

Mizuki decided he had nothing to lose. Part of him wanted to run to the voices and tell them of Ayano's and Eksha's plans, but another part of him was adamant that he just had to get away from these voices. He knew all too well who they belonged to, and he wondered if it was worth betraying them or betraying Dry Juice. _Wait, betraying? But I saved them!_ The drugs, he realized. He's not thinking straight. But he also wanted to go to the voices. Shit, his head hurt. This was going to be way harder than he thought, and now, with the apparent crumbling of the tower, things were even more fucked.

 

"Ah, easy now, Hersha," the voice spoke up again, this time coming from behind Mizuki.

 

He was scared out of his goddamn mind, to say the least. Mizuki felt something slither up his leg, and when he looked down he saw it – Virus' snake Allmate, looking up at him with its glowing blue eyes, as if it was silently mocking him. A hand fell on his shoulder and Mizuki jumped in surprise, but found himself unable to otherwise move, or speak. Two figures appeared from around the corner, where the only emergency light shone, and Mizuki could make out the silhouettes of a man and a... lion?

 

"Been awhile, Mizuki."

 

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit!_

 

The black lion stepped forward first, slowly approaching Mizuki, while his master trailed behind him leisurely. Mizuki's heart was about to beat out of his chest, his mind was racing, his palms were sweating and goosebumps covered his entire body. He wanted to scream, kick, claw, bite, run away, but something in his head was stopping him. Morphine? Maybe that was it. Ayano did a relatively good job opening his eyes, so to speak, but now that he was back in Oval Tower, it seemed like the effects were coming back. Were they ever gone to begin with?

 

"Come with us now," Virus spoke up again, and Mizuki heard him start walking. _He's circling me._ "You'll be safe, Mizuki-san." Virus appeared in Mizuki's field of vision, standing close to Trip.

 

 _I should go with them._ But why? All they ever did was cause him pain. And, speaking of that, what the hell did they do to Sei? He remembers seeing Toue's ' _son_ ' before, but he was always on those tubes. Last time Mizuki saw him, Sei looked... _different_. Still white as a sheet, yet different, in a weird way. _I shouldn't disobey. They saved Dry Juice. Yeah, they did that._ Mizuki remembers. His team became the best, finally. But then... why did this dull pain in his chest appear every time he thought of that day?

 

"Let's get a move on." Trip sounded impatient. Ice ran through Mizuki's veins when he heard Trip's voice, and the latter's Allmate wasn't making this easy on him. "We don't want the tower collapsing on us."

 

"Of course," Virus agreed, and Mizuki felt the snake slither away from his leg, going back to its master. "Now, before the tower collapses on us, let's-"

 

A voice cut Virus off.

 

"Get the fuck off your high horses."

 

It sounded over the alarm, strong, determined and _fed up with this shit_. It somehow made Mizuki snap out of whatever trance he was in, just enough for him to turn around, following Virus and Trip's rather surprised looks over his shoulder, but he wasn't sure what to think when he saw the newcomer. His eyes widened at the sight, and his mind started racing. _What the fuck is she doing here? How did she know they were here to begin with?!_ This was spiraling out of control, and fast. And the way this person had a gun leveled to Virus' face was not helping things, not one bit.

 

But what shocked Mizuki the most was the way that Virus smiled when he saw the newcomer, and placed his hands behind his back, tilting his head to the side a bit.

 

"Good to see you again, Ayano-san."


	24. NOTICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey there.

Sorry for the long as hell wait, but my inspiration's been down the drain for, well... a LONG time. I'm gonna start updating the story again, and I'm so sorry for not notifying you guys earlier! Also, read Chapter 22 again, since I've made a change on the ending.


	25. Gunfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One down, one to go.

 

 

_Resist._

 

_"Come to us, Mizuki-san."_

 

_Resist._

 

_"Don't be shy."_

 

_Resist-_

 

_"Shut up!" Ayano shouted, and her gun went off._

 

_The next thing Mizuki remembers seeing was Trip's slumped figure on the ground, bleeding and gasping. Virus was shocked, if only for a moment, but it was enough time for Ayano to get a head start when Welter started chasing her back down the way she came. It was all chaotic, really, yet it seemed like it was all happening in slow motion as well. Mizuki was too slow to react as a hand grabbed him from behind and he felt the familiar pierce of a needle to the back of his neck, soon after which his body started feeling numb. He could only watch as he was led out of the tower through another, unfamiliar door; to be honest, Mizuki didn't even know it was there, so close to where they were, and one that led them directly outside, at that._

 

_In the end, his body went limp and everything was swallowed by darkness._


	26. Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sei completes his plan.

_**17 Years Earlier**_  
  
_"It's your birthday, Sei-san!"_

 

_"Happy birthday, Sei."_

 

_"You're growing up so fast!"_

 

_"Aw, look at his cute new little jacket!"_

 

_A wide smile spread on Sei's lips as he looked up at the many lab workers surrounding him. They all held colored balloons and wrapped gifts, praising him and telling him how handsome he looked and how much he was going to like his presents. And, in the center of the crowd, holding a few black and white balloons of his own, stood Toue Tatsuo himself._

 

_"Toue!" Sei called out, happy, and rushed to the man in question, arms outstretched while he ran. Toue laughed and bent down enough so he could pick Sei up off the ground and hug him tightly._

 

_"Hey there, little guy," Toue cooed, keeping Sei securely pressed against his chest, one arm around Sei's back to keep him from losing his balance. "Aren't you gonna open your presents?" he asked, and Sei pulled away from the hug to look up at him._

 

_"I will, I will!" Sei eagerly nodded his head, then gave Toue another squeezing hug before Toue readjusted him on his hip. "Presents!" he giggled, and the workers around him laughed._

 

_That day was the last time Sei laughed wholeheartedly like that. It was the last time he knew what true happiness was, and what trusting other people actually meant.  
_

 

_That night they took his innocence, pumped him full of drugs, and told him that it was all for the greater good._

 

  
**Present  
  
** The evacuation notice was mostly drowned out by the people outside the door screaming and the alarms blaring. A man was standing in the center of what was once a huge guest area, with the tables now overturned, the expensive champagne glasses broken and the wallpaper and curtains torn up to shreds. There was even blood splattered in different places, probably from the people being in a rush to get out and ending up trampling over those who were unlucky enough to trip and fall. But that didn't matter right now. Sei's entire attention was on the one man just _standing_ there, both hands placed on his cane, his brows furrowed and his lips pressed in a thin line.

 

"Sei." It was the only thing he uttered.

 

"Toue," Sei replied.

 

It was almost surreal. Sei actually _lived_ , was able to lead Aoba's friends here, and had gotten his brother and Koujaku out of the tower alive and well. He only hoped they could get as far as they could before the whole thing crumbled. He needed Noiz and Clear for... other things. _I'm not letting this tower fall yet._ The Alphas were still around. And Sei was confident that Noiz and Clear would divert them away from Aoba and Koujaku.

 

"Why?" A single word, holding so much weight and sorrow.

 

"You took my life from me, Toue," Sei said, his expression blank and his voice even. "I don't hate you, though." At that Toue lifted his eyebrows in apparent surprise. "I hate myself more for being too afraid to do anything about it," he said, his black eyes never leaving Toue's frame.

 

"Afraid?" Toue asked, seemingly confused. "Why were you afraid, son?"

 

Something inside Sei burned when he heard that last word. It brought him back to the time when Toue would greet him each year with heaps of presents, and the workers in the tower would be smiling and giving him toys and playing with him. He could trust them back then. He was happy. He was innocent. He was even starting to see Toue as a father.

 

"I'm not your son," Sei snapped at him, harsher than he had intended. "I never was. Not since that night."

 

_I'm tired._

 

Toue didn't respond to those words. He remembered. Oh, he remembered. Sei wondered if Toue felt any remorse for what he was doing. Did the thought of his supposed "son" being strapped to an operating table, thrashing and screaming in confusion, keep him up at night? Did he even care when he came to visit Sei and try to get him to stop crying, when he fed him false promises that it would all be over soon? When? When was _soon_? Never, apparently. Sei learned that the hard way.

 

_I'm hurting._

 

"I'm sorry for hurting you so much, Sei," Toue spoke again, sounding sad, and a shaky breath escaped his lips after those words. "It was for-"

 

"-the greater good. Yes, I know," Sei cut him off, frowning.

 

_My soul is numb._

 

An explosion sounded below their feet, shaking the entire room. Sei didn't even flinch, while Toue just cast a quick look around him before his eyes settled back on his "son".

 

_He's going down with me._

 

"I'm tired, Toue," Sei said, matter-of-fact, and blinked slowly. "My heart is beating, strong and new, but my soul is tired. I've suffered enough. The world has suffered enough," he kept talking, lifting a hand and placing it on his chest. He closed his eyes, focusing on the steady rhythm of his healthy heart, and wondered if ending his life right now was the right thing to do. Virus and Trip went above and beyond to keep his recovery under wraps, and yet here he was, ready to throw everything to the fire and die under the rubble of what once used to be the only home he's ever known.

 

"I will not fight you, Sei," Toue warned him, but Sei just gave him a questioning look. "If you wish for my death, then so be it."

 

"You won't," Sei affirmed, and took a step forward. "Just tell me why I suffered."

 

Toue knew what that meant. Sei didn't need to explain himself.

 

So Toue rolled his shoulders, lifted his head and, in turn, took a step closer to the other man. He parted his lips and started speaking, not even flinching when parts of the wall and ceiling started crumbling and crashing down on them. It was a twisted story, ugly and cruel, but Sei kept listening. He thought he knew everything before, that it was just to help people and "bring them together", but those words shed a new light on his entire life. Sei didn't flinch, either, and just listened to him speak. He kept listening when a large piece of debris pinned him to the ground, kept listening even when he saw Toue's legs get crushed under the weight of the tower, and kept listening until the darkness consumed him and his consciousness abandoned his body.


End file.
